The Acrobat
by sakuraigo3838
Summary: 17year olds Kagome and InuYasha a famous acrobat hate each other, but a certain incident sends the two of them to Hawaii...and they have to cope with each other for a month! Will sparks fly? The course of love never did run smooth...Inukag Sesskik
1. Default Chapter

The Acrobat

Chapter 1: The Disaster

A/N: This fanfic, of course, is AU, and I will not be taking any flames, as usual, although I hardly mention it. Enjoy!

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Kagome sipped her coffee and eyed her friend, Kikyo, cautiously. Sure, she liked Kikyo and everything, but when Kikyo got excited, she'd make Kagome do the most dangerous things, and this was another of those times. Kagome secretly wished that Kikyo wouldn't come up with something silly this time.

"So, Kikyo, what bizarre thing are you cooking up for me this time?" the teenager asked, finishing the rest of her drink and folding her arms on the table.

"No, no, it isn't crazy this time, Kagome," Kikyo mocked her friend by pushing away her drink and folding her arms on the table. "I was just wondering…"

The moment Kikyo said those four words Kagome couldn't help cringing a little. Every time Kikyo was excited and about to make her do something bad, she'd always start off with 'I was just wondering…". It was hard for the high-school girl to believe that Kikyo wasn't going to make her do anything dangerous this one time.

"Kagome, snap out of it! Aren't you even listening?" Kikyo sighed. Kagome was one of those day-dreamy people who couldn't keep focused on one thing for long. "Hey, Kagome, are you going or not?"

"Eh? Sorry Kikyo…what were you saying?" Kagome smiled, shaking herself free of all her previous thoughts.

"I said, daddy gave me two tickets to go to the 'Jewel of Four Souls Circus' this Saturday from 10 to 11:30am. Do you want to come or not? It'll be great!" Kikyo squealed.

"What did you…oh my gosh! You've got to be kidding me! The 'Jewel of Four Souls Circus' is the best around here!" It was Kagome's turn to get hyped up. "You actually THINK I'd pass up a chance like this? I'm going with you!"

"I knew you'd see the light," Kikyo smiled. She loved someone going along with her to wherever, especially if it was Kagome.

"Well, I guess our time is up…it's 3:00pm now, and mom wants me back at 3:15pm, so I've got to get going," Kagome said at last. "I'll see you tomorrow then! Same time same place?"

Kikyo shook her head. "No, sorry, I'm all booked up for the rest of this week. I'll see you on Saturday, then. Ciao!" and with that, the two friends parted.

Kagome smiled happily as she moved slowly but surely out of the restaurant. Kikyo and her visiting one of the most famous circuses known for miles around! Now SHE'D have a story to tell her other friends when she got back to school the Monday after she'd gone to the circus. And best of all, she'd be making them envious, and not the other way around!

Moving a little faster, she began to whistle a sonatina, and soon Kagome was dancing through the mall in time to the sonatina, humming all the way, until she bumped into somebody and stumbling backwards.

"Watch where you're going, woman! If you don't start now, I swear, I'm going to hand you over to people who help the blind!" a rough man's voice said. Looking up, Kagome saw a rather handsome-looking man. He had golden eyes, big muscles and silvery hair, and a little bit of something furry was poking out from under the cap he wore. Besides a cap, the man wore cool jeans and a tank-top that showed off his upper torso nicely.

"Well, maybe YOU could watch where you're going, if you're assuming that I can't!" Kagome retorted, and, forgetting completely about Kikyo and the circus, stomped out the nearest mall door, with people staring at her more than ever.

The days leading up to that special Saturday passed very slowly for Kagome. Whenever she wasn't doing her homework, she would be daydreaming, imagining herself asking for at least one of the acrobats' autographs, and maybe Kikyo and her cheering on all the performers. Oh, how fun it would be!

After what seemed like torturous months, Saturday finally arrived. Feeling excited, Kagome jumped out of bed and whistled. Remembering the boy she had bumped into at the mall, Kagome frowned and wondered how anybody could be so rude. Of course, she'd had to be rude back, but that was only because he'd started the rudeness. If only he'd apologized…maybe by allowing her to pull off his cap to see what those furry white things under his hat were.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the telephone. Shaking herself free of the man, Kagome walked over to the telephone, picked it up, and placed it to ear. This proved to be a big mistake.

"ARE YOU READY, 'COS TODAY'S THE BIG DAY!" Kikyo squealed loudly, and Kagome jumped at least three feet high in the air.

"Kikyo…I know that it's the big day…can you please lower your voice? What do you want now?" Kagome rubbed her temples, her eardrums still ringing from her friend's loud voice.

"Kagome, remember how we arranged for me to pick you up (A/N: I didn't put that part in)? Where are you? It's 9:30; we're going to be late if you dilly-dally any longer."

"WHAT, IT'S THAT LATE?" Kagome practically screamed. She hadn't even had breakfast yet! Oh well…maybe she should buy a muffin at the place later. "Look, I've got to go now. I still haven't changed. Come in if you want. See you later!"

Hurriedly slamming the phone down, Kagome rushed to her wardrobe. From it she extracted a pair of denim jeans and a halter tank top. Quickly changing, Kagome clattered down the stairs. In the kitchen she saw Kikyo talking to Sota, her younger brother.

"Hey Kikyo, let's go," Kagome said.

"Let's go, then," her friend complied, throwing back her hair. Smiling one more time Sota, she followed Kagome out the door and into her flashy Lexus (she had given Kagome the keys to her car).

Getting into the drivers' seat, Kikyo looked at her watch and made a shocked expression. "Oh my gosh! We've only got fifteen minutes left! Let's go!"

The car was suddenly brought to life with an earth-shattering roar. It took all Kagome's self control not to scream out that the person sitting right next to her was a lunatic.

Five minutes later Kikyo pulled into the car park nearest to where the show was to be held. Kagome secretly wondered how her friend could manage to back into the parking space without bumping into anything else and still drive so haphazardly. Jumping right out of the once alive vehicle, Kikyo smirked at her friend. She knew what Kagome was thinking. "I'm just good at that kind of stuff," was her reply, before she strode towards the exit of the car park.

Two minutes later found the two girls sitting in a huge, crowded theatre. The stage looked as if it was smeared with some greasy substance, and Kagome had a feeling she knew why.

"Kikyo, why do you think the stage floor looks greasy?" Kagome whispered to her friend, who was eating up most of the popcorn.

"I can't believe-eh? Oh, I think…" Kikyo trailed off as she finally noticed the stage floor (they were sitting in one of the front rows). Her eyes widened, she finally whispered back to her friend. "They probably want to show that the performers wouldn't be put off by anything."

"I guess that's a reasonable answer," Kagome said, turning back to look at the stage. Wait! Was that a man laughing/smirking over there, and was that a can that said 'oil: flammable' over there? That meant…the observant teenage girl was about to whisper this observation to her friend but she was interrupted by a loud, booming voice: "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE'RE PROUD TO PRESENT TO YOU…THE FAMOUS 'JEWEL OF FOUR SOULS' CIRCUS PLAY!" At this announcement several people cheered, and Kagome clamped her hands over her ears, momentarily deafened by the loud roars of the audience.

"NOW, FIRST, WE WILL HAVE…THE STAFF FIGHTER!"

More applause as a man in a bluish-purplish suit came out, wielding a long, golden staff. He had black hair, which was tied into a short ponytail. Smiling confidently, the man began his routine, which was mainly showing the audience staff-fighting. After that, there came a beautiful lady with a huge tiger and a big boomerang. She was wearing a pink and black outfit. Smiling nervously, the woman began her routine. The crowd 'oohed' and 'aahed' as she threw the boomerang and hit wooden dummies with amazing accuracy.

Then there came a tiny boy dressed in an old-fashioned haori. Grinning, the cute little child began doing all sorts of neat tricks, like turning a tiny spinning top into a gigantic one, and making illusions. It was rather scary, but when the lights turned on again, the crowd cheered louder than ever. And best of all, the greasy floor did not faze any of the performers.

Then there came three men, all wearing black martial-arts kimonos. Kagome inwardly gasped; one of them was the man she'd bumped into the other day! Trying to hide her sudden blush, Kagome made a mental note to skip him when they allowed people to ask for their autographs. Kikyo, noticing her friend blush, looked in the direction Kagome was looking at and smirked. She had a matchmaker job to do now.

"Hello, our names are InuYasha, Koga and Miroku. I'm sure you will recognize Miroku here. For those who do not, he is the staff-fighter," the man called InuYasha said. Kagome narrowed her eyes. InuYasha? That was a fishy name. Suddenly, she realized something else-only the ignorant man she'd met was wearing a hat. The other two were not. Very fishy.

"We're here to show you what kind of acrobatics we do," Koga carried off from where InuYasha left off. "Are you prepared to see all sorts of wonderful things?"

The three men soon had their peers yelling with agreement, and that included Kagome and Kikyo. Kagome wanted to know what kinds of acrobatics the three men did, and Kikyo because she didn't want Kagome to think that she hated the guy called InuYasha, even if she wasn't really hyped up about what kinds of acrobatics they could do.

"What did you say? Speak louder!" the man called Miroku yelled out. _Another dim guy_, Kagome thought tentatively.

Of course, louder hollers were heard from the crowd, and the aftermath left Kagome's ears ringing.

"Ok, let's begin, and this show will star me!" Koga smiled at everyone, and Kagome could swear she'd heard a few girls sighing with happiness and Miroku and InuYasha growling in the background. _Are they sighing because they think they're in love with him?_ Kagome thought. _Stupid girls._ She didn't realize that Kikyo was sighing because of Koga's arrogance.

The performance started. InuYasha was handed a long, 10-inch wide flat log, and Koga and Miroku helped carry the log. When they came to the middle of the stage, InuYasha let go of the log and quickly jumped on the log and everyone but Kagome held their breaths, hoping that InuYasha wouldn't fall and make a fool of himself. InuYasha glanced at everybody for a moment before jumping lightly off the log, doing a somersault in the air, and then coming back down on the log. Kagome couldn't help feeling scared for the man that had been so rude to her a few days ago.

They each took a turn at performing tricks on the log, each performance harder than the last, and InuYasha ended up back on the log again, twirling and somersaulting and playing with fire on the log. That was when disaster struck.

InuYasha was just about ready to jump back down on the log, but he lost his footing and fell down onto the greasy 'oil: flammable' floor, and well…you can guess what happened next.

The whole stage suddenly burst into a million pieces, and Kagome screamed and flung herself across Kikyo, trying to protect her friend, but Kikyo somehow managed to protect her friend from the sharp wooden stage instead.

"Everyone, hurry up! Get out of here!" a male voice said. Kikyo, however, was paralysed; she couldn't move out of pure fear. Kagome, however, was writhing underneath like a worm. "HOW CAN YOU FORGET ABOUT THE THREE ACROBATS ON STAGE?" she managed to scream. Finally managing to put Kikyo safely in the hands of a guard, Kagome hurried past the burning flames and onto the stage, nearly tripping over something soft.

One acrobat! Reaching for the soft, fleshy object, Kagome realized that it was InuYasha. Even though she would've left him alone if the situation wasn't too serious, the man was unconscious, and she wouldn't let the world lose one life. Grabbing InuYasha's arm, Kagome, with some difficulty, dragged him to the exit of the theatre and thrust him into the arms of the guards.

"He's unconscious, as you might know…" Kagome told the guard holding InuYasha. "Take care of him; I'll go look for the other two."

"Miss, it's alright, since the other two have made their way back," the guard informed Kagome. "You'll be famous once people hear that you saved InuYasha Taisho; he's the star of the circus."

"Oh," Kagome stated, feeling at a loss of words. "Oh yes, by the way, have you seen a girl wearing a green t-shirt with a blue flower on it saying 'hello Lavender'?" Kagome asked, wondering if the guard still remembered that she'd given him Kikyo.

"Miss, yes, I have. She said she's gone to the toilet, miss."

After the incident was taken care of, news soon went around that InuYasha had lost a lot of blood from the scratches he'd received when he'd fallen, and with bits of the stage flying at him, that was an extra bonus. What the guards needed was for someone sensible to look after the acrobat whilst they reported the news to their manager, who was currently on vacation with his family in Hong Kong.

As soon as Kikyo heard this, thinking that it would be the perfect opportunity for Kagome to get to know InuYasha better, walked up to a guard and said quietly, "Me and my friend will look after InuYasha while we're gone, okay?" Shrugging, the guard gave his consent and began shooing the rest of the crowd out the doors. Kagome was about to follow but Kikyo held her back. "We're looking after InuYasha, okay?" she whispered.

"You WHAT!" Kagome couldn't hide the shock that overcame her in an instant. "Look, InuYasha's big-headed, arrogant, rude, and-"

"And you like him," Kikyo finished off, and she held up a hand to stop her friend from protesting. "Look, just give him some help, okay? The guards deserve a rest after what happened today."

Numbly moving her head up and down, Kagome followed Kikyo to the room in which the guards had laid the famous acrobat. The room was light and airy, and the walls were a nice lemon colour. This kind of room would've comforted Kagome if only a sudden thought struck her head.

_Who had put the flammable oil on the stage?_

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A/N: I like how the story's going…but anyways, I hope you've enjoyed the 6 page long chapter! Please review! 


	2. Chapter 2: The Bad Coincidence

Chapter 2: The Bad Coincidence

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews (two!)…anyhow, once again I apologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes I will make. Also, there's a NO TV challenge I'm taking for school, and you're also not allowed to use the computer unless you're doing it for homework reasons, so I might not update for a long time. Enjoy!

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In the Waiting Room**

Kagome hated the silence that controlled the whole waiting room. So far, Kikyo and she hadn't exchanged any words, and InuYasha was still sleeping peacefully on the bed. The acrobat usually had a haughty air around him, and he always looked confident, no matter what. Now, however, his features carried a gentle, modest expression and his thin lips were curved up in a slight smile. Kagome couldn't help sighing inwardly at this. He looked so handsome…but it was a pity that he was arrogant and rude.

Kikyo, on the other hand, didn't mind the silence. She was planning up different ways of getting InuYasha to see Kagome more often, although most of her ideas were corny.

Inside InuYasha's head was a tumult of thoughts and questions, such as 'What happened after I blacked out?' and 'Who dragged me to safety and saved my life?' and 'Maybe a hot chick saved my life.' Waiting to be elaborated on, as InuYasha's head knew no bounds.

When the acrobat opened his eyes, he expected to be lying in bed with a hot cup of tea and several of his servants crowded around his bed, looking worriedly at him, but instead he saw himself in a queen size bed in a lemon-wall coloured room with two unknown women sitting at his bedside. They both looked a lot like each other, and he could've sworn that he'd seen one of them before.

"So, you're finally awake, your Rudeness?" Kagome asked InuYasha rather coldly. "You should put a mask on; you're too ugly for words." Of course, that wasn't true, really, but then again, that's exactly how Kagome felt. _'He would have looked handsome if only he weren't as arrogant and unkind,'_ were the girl's exact thoughts.

"Hey, woman," the acrobat growled. How dare this woman insult him? "You look hungry-would you like me to give you a knuckle sandwich?" as if to emphasize the last part, InuYasha made an angry face and stuck his fist in Kagome's fist.

"Chill down, guys, Kagome and I are here to keep watch on you; the guards have to go somewhere," Kikyo said coolly, wincing slightly at the amount of homework she was going to have to do when she returned home. Why'd she volunteer for waiting here in the first place? And why was Kagome being so rude towards InuYasha? _Probably her way of saying 'I love you'_, was Kikyo's explanation.

InuYasha was about to make another snappy comment but he was interrupted by a loud knock on the door, and in came a tall man. He looked almost like InuYasha, except that he was taller and his expression was colder. Kagome stared at the man; was that his father?

"Are you InuYasha's father?" Kagome blurted out, before quickly covering her mouth again. She felt rude asking such things.

"I'm actually that old?" the man frowned, before smirking again. "What'd you do this time, little brother?"

"N-nothing," InuYasha hissed. "Some idiot just put flammable oil on the stage. I…wait a minute!" the acrobat snarled. "Was it you?" Kikyo's eyes widened at this. How could any sibling put their sister or brother in danger?

"Very good, little brother. Remember I'd said that if you didn't do a good job of it, into the pits of Hell thou shall sink?" Sesshomaru smirked. "And of course, the fool played his part and did not take heed. I am ashamed of you."

"Now wait one moment!" Kagome said. She'd had enough of just watching from the sidelines. Pointing a finger, she added, "You should be the one who's ashamed, putting your brother's life in danger! What kind of thing is that?"

"As a matter of fact, that is none of your business," InuYasha's brother replied shortly. "Stand back, woman, while I deal with my fool of a brother."

"Feh, you're just afraid of being outnumbered two against one, is that right?" InuYasha retorted, trying to get the subject off him. Unfortunately, this tactic did not work with his brother.

"You actually think you can put me off? Well, you're wrong, little brother," the man grinned nastily.

"What's his name?" Kagome whispered quietly to Kikyo.

"What's my name?" InuYasha's brother looked down at Kagome. "That is none of your business. I'm afraid you're going to have to find out for yourself."

"Well, mister all-so-mighty-and-high, I already know your name. It's Sesshomaru, isn't it?" Kikyo did her best to sneer, but Sesshomaru wasn't cowed.

"You're going to have to assume things," Sesshomaru said coolly. "But InuYasha, you are the dumbest person I've ever met. First, you do not listen to me and end up messing up your mother's birthday cake, and now this," he eyed InuYasha angrily. "What have you got to say for yourself?"

"Feh, you sound just like Donald Trump in 'The Apprentice'," InuYasha feh'd, making a face. "Why don't you just dye your hair blonde? Then you would look just like him."

"But you've got that b…. Jennifer's (A/N: One of the previous contestants in 'The Apprentice') personality," the calm brother said, not even fazed by his sibling's snide remark. Then, turning his attention to the two teenage girls sitting frozen in their chairs, he asked them, "And what're you doing here? Scram!"

And as they scurried off, not saying a word, both girls heard InuYasha saying rather loudly, "Hey, you didn't give me a chance to get to know that hot chick more!"

_I hope that arrogant what-sit is talking about Kikyo_, Kagome thought.

_I hope that InuYasha's talking about Kagome_, Kikyo thought.

**Later on that day**

"Mom! I'm going out now, is that alright?" Kagome called from her bedroom.

"As a matter of fact, no it's not. I've got lots of chores to do, and if you've finished your homework, you can help me out," Kagome's mother replied.

"Oh," the high-school girl was slightly put-out as she had planned to go to the mall and buy something for InuYasha and pretend it was from Kikyo: Your secret admirer.

Slowly walking down the stairs, Kagome was given a whole pile of chores to do. She had to mop the floor, wash the dishes, clean up her bedroom, weed the garden and take out the garbage. And by the time she was done all of that, she'd have no time at all to go out. Unfortunately,

"Kagome darling, do you mind if you hop over and open the door?" Kagome's mother called from the living room.

Sighing, Mrs. Higurashi's daughter carefully set the dish down in the sink, dried her hands and walked over to the door. When she opened it, she gawked. On the doorstep stood two of the acrobats and the boomerang thrower from the Jewel of Four Souls circus: Miroku, Koga and Sango (A/N: She'd introduced herself briefly before starting her routine).

"Hello, are you the one who saved InuYasha? You know the big-headed acrobat who's very self-confident?" Sango asked, inwardly scrutinizing the girl from head to toe. She didn't seem like one to trust.

Kagome turned quickly away so that the three circus performers wouldn't see her chuckle. So even InuYasha's peers thought he was big-headed? That was cool, but she couldn't dally around; she had a question to answer.

"Yes, I was the one to-" Kagome paused. What if they assigned for her to spend a period of time with InuYasha? That wouldn't do. "Ahem, sorry, I was lying. I wasn't the one to save your so-called InuYasha. I wasn't even at the circus, but my friend (A/N: Kikyo) saved him. She lives across the road from here," Kagome corrected, and she turned away again so that the others wouldn't see her blush. Her blush always gave away a lie. But then again, she could start pairing Kikyo up with InuYasha. They'd be a good pair.

"Are you sure, miss? You don't look comfortable," Miroku asked. The way this young girl was acting, anyone would think that she was lying.

Kagome nodded. She certainly hoped that she wouldn't have to lie anymore, or she'd turn crimson with all the effort.

"Alright, then, I hope we didn't waste your time at all. Have a good day!" Sango said, and the genuine smile she gave Kagome took her blush away almost immediately.

Kagome was about to close the door when she heard the acrobat called Miroku call back a jumble of words, and a sound of someone slapping something/someone. Flinching slightly, Kagome went back to her chores.

**With Kikyo**

Kikyo was reading a book when the doorbell rang. Since her whole family was out, the teenager ran out and down the stairs. Opening the door, she saw the same people Kagome had seen only a few minutes ago.

"Hello, are you the one to save InuYasha, you know, the acrobat from the Jewel of Four Souls circus?" Sango asked once again. This girl looked more cool and collected, unlike her so-called friend.

"Of course not, as a matter of fact, the very person who saved InuYasha is living across the road from me, first building on the right, fourth floor," Kikyo replied.

"What…we've just been there, and that girl's denying that she saved InuYasha, the famous acrobat?" Miroku put on a pretend shock face on. "That's amazing! No girl can ever resist the famous InuYasha!"

"Well, that's her," Kikyo insisted, before adding, "and if you want, I can help you get her and InuYasha together. They'd make quite a cute couple."

"Hm…that IS a good idea," Koga admitted. "That way, he'll stop being such a worthless playboy."

"But anyways, what business of that is it for you?" Kikyo asked. "You know-about who saved InuYasha?"

"Let's just say that his father got so grateful that he wanted us to search all over for the girl who saved his son. InuYasha had had a chance to go, too, but he was too furious about his father's decision to go anywhere," Sango sighed. "But anyways, he said that the girl who saved InuYasha would stay with him for a month in the Bahamas, and she'd have free tickets for every circus show we put on for the next year or so."

"But how do you know that InuYasha's saviour is a girl?" Kikyo queried once again.

"A guard told us," Miroku simply said. "Now, if you don't mind, we've got to go," he added with a twinkle in his eye. "Toodles!"

"Ciao!" Kikyo called into the distance. The three circus performers had somehow managed a disappearing act on her. Feeling happy for Kagome, the teenager returned to reading her book again. She was becoming too much of a bookworm, that was for sure.

**Back at Kagome's**

It was 6:00pm now, and Kagome was exhausted. She was about to go and wash up for dinner when there was a knock on the door yet again. Her younger brother, Sota, ran for the door squealing, "I got there first, sis! You've lost again! Ha ha!"

When Sota opened the door, he saw three people. And they looked nice!

"Okay, hello, is there a female by the name of Kagome Higurashi (Kikyo had mentioned Kagome's name) living here? Please don't lie…" Sango asked firmly but politely.

"Oh…she's here. Sis! Can you come out of the shower for a minute? There's someone at the door for you!" Sota cheerfully called, and the boomerang thrower's heart jumped slightly at the cheerfulness of the boy. He was the complete opposite of his sister.

"Coming!" Kagome tousled her hair as she walked down the stairs towards the three performers in dirty clothes. "Yes, what is it now?"

"You're coming with us, whether you're dirty or not. And that's a must!" Koga said roughly, and he grabbed hold of Kagome's arm. "Don't deny it now-you're the one who saved InuYasha!"

Miroku turned towards a stunned little brother and added, "Little boy, please tell your mother that your sister will be having dinner with us. We're…her friends, you see, and it's just that she's forgotten that she's eating out with us. She'll be fine with us," before helping Sango and Koga frog-march Kagome away.

"Alright, then, see you later, Kagome! Bye!" Sota called out. "See you after dinner!"

**Outside**

Kagome shivered as she was firmly but gently led to a fine-looking limo. They could at least let her get a coat or something! Didn't they know that the temperature was only 8 degrees Celsius? And how could they go without jackets? And in short sleeve t-shirts as well!

"Look, please don't panic," Miroku pleaded as Kagome thrashed around in the limo as it drove away. "We're telling the truth-we're bringing you out to dinner. I swear it."

Fifteen minutes later found all four people standing outside a fine, high-class diner called: De la Diner. Shoving Kagome inside, all three performers followed closely.

The diner was really crowded. There were singers and dancers on the stage; was that Boa? Below the stage were several tables, and at least one formal waiter was attending to one table. Dazzled by the scene, Kagome suddenly felt left out; the people that were there were the posh, superior citizens of Japan; there were no middle-class citizens around, meaning that she would be the only middle-class girl there.

Leading Kagome to one of the tables, Sango, Miroku and Koga were greeted by the huge, booming voice of their boss, "So you've found the girl who saved my son? Well done, all of you."

On the other hand, Kagome was met with a lot of odd looks from the people sitting around the table. There were only two faces she recognized, and neither of them looked warm: InuYasha, who wore a cold and grumpy expression, and Sesshomaru, who wore the same apathetic look as usual.

"Sit down, darling," a woman said. She looked very much like InuYasha. "Please sit down, and thank you for saving my son from the disaster from today." She gestured towards InuYasha. "Dear, say thank you to this kind girl. AND with sincerity and kindness." InuYasha's mother added, afraid that InuYasha would add some mean remark to the confused and frightened-looking girl.

"Thank you, woman, I am forever grateful," the still sulking acrobat mimicked his mother's voice.

InuYasha's mother sighed. That was the best she would ever get out of him. "Honey, what's your name?" she then queried.

"K-Kagome Higurashi," Kagome stammered, a bit shy of the beautiful lady sitting in front of her.

"Hello, Kagome, please take a seat," InuYasha's mother gestured to a seat next to her, and the timid high-school student sat down.

That was when Sango came back. "Kagome, please follow me. Mr. Taisho wants to talk to you about what you did this morning," Sango smiled. Helping Kagome up, she led the girl to where Mr. Taisho sat, which was on the left of Sesshomaru.

"Kagome Higurashi," InuYasha's father boomed. "Pleased to meet you. I'm InuYasha's father, as you might've heard. I'm extremely grateful to you for saving my son. As a reward, you and he get to travel to Hawaii for a month. Don't worry about bills-I've already paid for them. You'll be leaving on the second of March and coming back on the second of April." Miroku scratched his brow and Sango glared at him. He'd thought that Kagome and InuYasha would travel to the Bahamas.

Kagome was practically screaming as she heard the dreaded words. InuYasha would take her to Hawaii for a whole month! That was absolutely ridiculous! How was she ever going to explain this to her mum? She'd be so homesick! But unfortunately, she couldn't show any sign of hatred at this announcement.

"Thank you," Kagome whispered, before meekly returning to her seat.

The rest of dinner passed by like a snail making its way across the length of a very fine table. Each bite Kagome took felt like a slimy frog making its way down her throat, and she couldn't swallow at all. Maybe if she got ill before it was time to go then the reward would have to be cancelled.

When at last she was being driven home, Kagome closed her eyes and thought, _Why me? WHY ME!_

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A/N: Whew! That chapter was exhausting. Oh yes, I'm taking this No TV challenge, so please don't worry if I don't update for a long time. Please review! 


	3. Chapter 3: Songs of Love: Kagome's Decis...

Chapter 3: Songs of Love: Kagome's Decision

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or the love songs mentioned in this chapter.

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A/N: It's a pity this fanfic isn't getting very far, but then again, I want FEEDBACK! Anyways, enjoy the fanfic! Once again, I apologize for any spelling errors I make.

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"I'm home, mom!" Kagome called unhappily once the fancy limo had driven away and she was safely in the house.

"Hi, honey...you don't look so happy, and that's strange since you always come home happy after dinner with your friends. What was it Ayumi, Eri or Yuka said this time?" Mrs. Higurashi asked gently, sliding an arm around Kagome's shoulders and leading her in through the door.

"No, it wasn't either of them. The…friends…were different this time," Kagome sniffed. "Those 'friends' are nobody you'd know unless you read teen magazines. Anyways, these 'friends' are actually the 'Jewel of Four Souls' performers…"

And with that, Kagome filled her mother on what had happened in the morning and as a result.

When the girl had finished, Mrs. Higurashi frowned before stating, "Isn't it every teenage girl's dream to spend a month in Hawaii with InuYasha? I mean, from what I've heard so far, he's pretty popular and handsome."

"Well, anyways, they can't make me go! I just don't want to! With leaving you and all…" Kagome trailed off, unsure of what to say next.

For a moment, there was pause. Scared that her mother would go into the 'grandchildren' thing, like she had many times before, Kagome glanced at her mother, fearing what she was going to say next.

Then:

"Aw, honey, I understand, they just CAN'T make my little girl go with someone she hardly knows to Hawaii," Mrs. Higurashi said, hugging Kagome, but inside, really, she was celebrating. Her daughter might even start a real relationship at last!

"Are you saying that from your heart, mom?" Kagome asked weakly, even though she knew it was wrong to not trust her mother like that. Maybe she was actually really evil inside.

"Oh, honey…I am," Mrs. Higurashi replied, blushing. She could never lie to her own kids, and sometimes that was a bad thing.

"Oh, so you're telling me to go to Hawaii now?" Kagome felt rather hurt. Her mother cared more about grandchildren than her own children?

Kagome's mother knew exactly what her daughter was thinking, and it was pretty lucky that she knew how to fix things. Pretending that she hadn't heard Kagome's previous words, Mrs. Higurashi commanded, "Kagome, I think that it's your bedtime now. Goodnight, and see you tomorrow. Give me more details on this whole thing tomorrow morning." Giving her daughter a brief smile, Mrs. Higurashi made her escape, half-running half-berating herself for asking her daughter to mention the subject again the next day. At least the argument would have to wait.

Upstairs, tears fell down Kagome. She knew that it wasn't something to cry about, but she couldn't help it. How could anyone care more about somebody than their own child/children? First she had called Kikyo about the issue, but once she had hung up, there was nothing else to do but to sleep.

Kagome had tried to see her mother's point of view. Sure, the family would go on, but what if Kagome and Sota failed to produce any children? And she wasn't sure an adopted child would make the family tree go on, for that child was not born in the Higurashi blood line.

Feeling resigned, Kagome wiped her remaining tears away and turned over on her side. Sighing, she fell asleep, greeted by the nightmares of Dream-world.

**With Kikyo**

Kikyo had a strange feeling in her, but she didn't know what. The moment Kagome had called, that feeling had appeared. It wasn't one of happiness, Kikyo could tell that, but it was probably more of a bitter/sweet feeling.

That was when the teenager found out what the feeling was. Something that was usually found in angst/romance books: jealousy.

But what was there to be jealous about? She certainly didn't like InuYasha's attitude, although he made up for it with his looks. And anyways, she wouldn't like being separated from the safety of her family and home.

Or would she?

The teenager sat in her room, confused for a moment. What was there to gain from a worthless trip to Hawaii? Fame, surely, for the famous acrobat InuYasha would always be there with her, but there was nothing else. Deciding to play the 'pros and cons' game, Kikyo grabbed a pen and paper before sitting down on her bed to work things out.

At the end of the list, Kikyo had thought up more cons than pros on being jealous, and that satisfied the teenage girl greatly. Despite that, however, the feeling still remained, not willing to give to the list of pros and cons.

_I'm so wicked; I should be feeling good for Kagome! I'm her friend and her match-maker, after all, and this is the perfect opportunity,_ Kikyo thought, biting her bottom lip, but it was no use; Jealousy still ruled. Turning off her bedroom light, Kikyo sank into a pleasant slumber where she and Kagome romped around in sunny meadows and picked delicious fruits off trees every single day.

**In InuYasha's household**

The acrobat paced back and forth in his room restlessly, grumbling on about how determined (in a bad way) his parents were. How could they ever believe that he would marry and give them grandchildren? They, of all people, should know him inside out. Giving a roar, InuYasha threw an expensive painting of him out the window, where it contacted with some poor passer-by. But the acrobat was too furious to notice anything.

The hanyou came back to reality with a knock on the door. "Lord InuYasha, are you alright?" a timid maid's voice asked. Knowing that it was his servant Shikara, the hanyou hastily regained his composure (which was not very simple) and opened the door. As he had predicted, Shikara stood there with his dinner, and she looked scared. Deciding not to trouble her any further, InuYasha grabbed the silver tray and closed the door, careful not to wake up his brother, who was the 'goody goody' of the two brothers. Sesshomaru had already eaten his dinner at seven o'clock.

Digging in, InuYasha had just about calmed down when something hard nearly chipped one of his teeth. Spitting the offending object out, the hanyou saw that the thing hidden in his meal was a silver chunk of metal with some words inscribed on it. InuYasha curiously read the message:

To the Love of my Life, a song for you:

_As long as the stars shine down on the Heavens,_

_Long as the rivers run to the sea,_

_I'll never get over you getting over you_

_Getting over me…_

The hanyou felt like throwing the worthless wordy metal in the bin, but his human side held him back. Taking control, Human InuYasha walked over to his bed with the love song, sat down, and began to inscribe another song of love on the other side with his claws. Both sides of InuYasha winced; both for different reasons.

When the hanyou was done, InuYasha threw the chunk of metal out the window, and it floated with the wind as if it were a feather. Feeling puzzled, the hanyou sank back down on his bed. His last thoughts were: _I wonder where the chunk of metal will go next_.

**Next day at Kagome's house**

_Beep! Beep! _**SLAM!**

Kagome slammed her hand down on her alarm clock, which was beeping profusely. Rubbing her sore and tired eyes, she changed and walked down the stairs. How could she have forgotten to turn the alarm clock off the previous night?

"Morning, dear!" Mrs. Higurashi greeted her daughter, still aware of the conversation that took place the night before. "Would you like cereal, or toast with bacon and eggs?"

"What does it matter? I'll just stick with good old cereal," Kagome put on her best smile and reached for the cornflakes packet her brother was clutching in his hand.

Kagome had just poured out some cornflakes into her milk when she saw it: a golden chunk of metal with words inscribed on it. Silently pointing it out to Sota, the little boy squealed and grabbed it.

"It's a love song for you, Kagome! Look! Isn't that InuYasha's handwriting?" Sota could remember the acrobat's handwriting from in the girly magazines Kagome occasionally allowed him to read.

"Ach, Quatsch!" Kagome exclaimed, remembering the German tutoring she used to get when she was young. The words she had exclaimed were her favourites: Oh nonsense! "You must be bluffing…oh my gosh! It really is!" Grabbing the 'metal scroll' from her sibling, Kagome read the content:

_I'm wishing on a star,_

_To follow where you are,_

_I'm wishing on a dream,_

_To find out what it means_

_And I'm wishing on the rainbows,_

_That I see…_

Kagome was touched by the lyrics of the words. She could even guess what the tune was! The words looked familiar…wondering why InuYasha would actually bother writing something like this to her and how he could have sneaked it into a cereal box, Kagome carried the metal back to her room and put it on her 'trophies' shelf. It looked like a masterpiece amongst all the other trophies she had ever received, and even better. Sighing like an obsessed fan girl, Kagome exited her room and sat back down at the breakfast table.

"Kagome?" her mother gently prodded her daughter. "Are you going to go on that trip to Hawaii, then?"

"I'll think about it," the teenager replied absent-mindedly, popping a cornflake into her mouth. Not feeling hungry anymore, Kagome downed the rest of her milk and rushed up the stairs, calling back that she was going to brush her teeth.

"Mom, guess what? I want to be a brother-in-law!" Sota said excitedly as he grabbed his own cereal and ate all the sugary parts.

Mrs. Higurashi sighed. Maybe she shouldn't have let Sota buy those 'Honey Bunches', he was almost always too hyper after eating them…

**In Kagome's room**

Kagome tapped her chin, deep in thought. Would she or would she not do InuYasha a favour? That was the question. Well, maybe she shouldn't, seeing that the message was probably a one-time thing…but she should! Kagome winced at the sharp voice in her head. Maybe, if she obeyed it, then she'd stop the voice once and for all…but she didn't feel like writing a love song…she didn't know many…

That was when she thought about the trip to Hawaii. InuYasha's love song had made her nearly want to go, and all she needed was a little more convincing from somebody.

Oh, she didn't want to think about this anymore! Kagome, feeling unsure of what to do, called Kikyo, searching for help.

"Hello?" Kikyo's grumpy voice came on the phone. Kagome grinned; Kikyo wasn't a morning person.

"Hello, _darling_, I'd like to ask you whether I should go to Hawaii with InuYasha or not and why," the 16 year old said in a sweet, sing-song voice.

If Kikyo had really been grumpy before, now she was all awake and bouncy. She loved being the match-maker in charge.

"Ok, I think you should, because you get to get in a relationship, and you'll get to be the only one in our class who's gone to Hawaii, so you can brag about anything," Kikyo said.

"Anyways, I heard about you getting a love song from InuYasha. Is that true?"

"How'd you know? It just happened this morning!" Kagome exclaimed. How in the world did Kikyo know? Unless…

"You wrote that, didn't you?" Kagome practically screamed. "You…you…"

Sensing what her friend was going to say, Kikyo shook her head. "No, Kagome, I didn't write that piece of junk. Sota told me over the phone when you went upstairs to brush your teeth, so I know all about it. He had just hung up when you called." And that was the truth.

Kagome felt contented. Maybe going on that stupid trip with InuYasha would make up for her not writing back to him. "Well, I've got what I wanted. I'm going to go to Hawaii, then. See you soon!" she said before hanging up.

_Knock knock knock! _Kagome hastily stood up, smoothing her clothes out as her mother walked in.

"So, darling, are you going to Hawaii with InuYasha?" Mrs. Higurashi asked gently, sitting down on her daughter's bed.

Kagome had already made up her mind.

"No, I won't be going to Hawaii. You can tell InuYasha and his family that," Kagome replied shortly, hoping that her mother wouldn't go on about how she had always wanted grandchildren, etc. Kagome didn't feel like crying her eyes out again.

"O-okay," Mrs. Higurashi beamed a wobbly smile at Kagome. "I'll be seeing you later, then."

With that, the mother immediately turned and practically stumbled out of the room, and her daughter felt her heart sink. Her mother was extremely sensitive, she knew that very well. How could she have forgotten?

Kagome felt her heart sink even further down to her feet as she could hear very quiet, but still audible sobs coming from the kitchen.

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A/N: Okay, so it's the end of this chapter. I highly doubt that you'd be surprised when Kagome said 'no', but anyhow, the love songs that were on that 'chunk of metal' are two of my favourites, 'Wishing On a Star' and 'I'll Never Get Over You Getting Over Me', sung by Beyonce ( main singer for 'Destiny's Child') and Expose. Please review! 


	4. Chapter 4: A Little Help is in Order

Chapter 4: A Little Help is in Order

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.

A/N: I'm really glad that I've gotten more than two reviews this time, so I've decided to lengthen this chapter. I apologize if this chapter did not come out for a long time, because in my place this month (March) is the time for moving, so I've moved somewhere else. Also, if you're wondering why Kagome seemed convinced about going to Hawaii before she'd said 'no', it's because of this: sure, she was convinced, but she still wanted one more day to make sure she was happy with the decision as well. Enjoy the chapter!

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With InuYasha**

The hanyou opened his eyes for the first time that morning. Glancing at his clock, InuYasha noted that it was 10:00, so that meant that his goody-goody of a brother had already woken up. Getting dressed, the acrobat brushed his teeth and walked down the stairs, for once intended to prove to his brother that he could be good at times, too.

When InuYasha reached the bottom of the stairs, as usual Sesshomaru was already downstairs reading a book.

"Morning mom, dad and Sess!" InuYasha greeted, inwardly smirking as Sesshomaru's ear twitched with annoyance. Apart from Sesshomaru's girlfriend Rin and his normal friend Kagura, InuYasha was the only one who was allowed to call his brother 'Sess' (but only when his parents were around, so then Sesshomaru couldn't kill his brother).

"Good morning to you too, brother," the acrobat's older brother spat. That was the meanest way Sesshomaru was allowed to express his annoyance at his brother. Suddenly turning around, the older brother shrugged, not fazed by InuYasha's unusual morning appearance. "I see that you've woken up late, as usual."

It was InuYasha's turn to get a little mad. How could his brother always find a flaw in him, no matter how hard he tried? The acrobat was about to retort when his father abruptly put the newspapers down and turned to face his younger son. On his face creases were sketched across his forehead, and his eyebrows were knitted into a frown.

"InuYasha, you might not have to go to Hawaii after all. You remember Kagome Higurashi, don't you? Well, Sesshomaru has just heard from around her neighbourhood that Kagome has declined our invitation." Mr. Taisho explained.

"Well, that's it, then. I'll just go to Hawaii all by myself for a month," InuYasha replied, happy that some stranger he hardly knew wouldn't be accompanying him anymore.

"But what about schooling, eh?" Sesshomaru contradicted his sibling. "You'll get fat from all that Taco Bell's stuff you love eating, and you won't even do any exercise to stop yourself from growing obese."

"Well, you can count your lucky stars that I stay thin easily," InuYasha pointed out, and the sad thing was, it was true. Sesshomaru couldn't say anymore.

"But, InuYasha, you'll still gain weight, and that'll mean that you can't do acrobatics anymore," Mrs. Taisho continued from where her first son had left off. "You can't go to Hawaii without Kagome, and that's final."

"Fine," InuYasha snorted, grabbing a piece of toast and a banana before storming back up the stairs, furious on his parents' second decision. Were their decisions always intended to make his life even more miserable?

Mrs. Taisho watched her son go back to his room in a huff, and in her heart she was really disappointed that that nice girl Kagome had declined the invitation. It was time for a visit. Grabbing her coat, Mrs. Taisho made for the door, telling her husband not to go anywhere.

**With Kagome**

Kagome nibbled on her fingernails and stared out the window, feeling like a vegetable. She had been doing nothing for one hour, when she could've been getting on with her homework, but she didn't feel like it. Actually, she'd been thinking. About InuYasha and the invitation to Hawaii.

Why exactly had InuYasha written her a love song? Last time she had checked, he was an insensitive jerk, and he didn't really care much about her. And did she HAVE to go alone? Could she at least bring someone she was familiar with? Then she wouldn't have to cling onto InuYasha's arm like a helpless bimbo.

Sighing heavily, the teenager dropped her abused hand and stared even harder out the window, as if trying to find something outside. She was about to consider going to the bathroom when her bedroom door opened, and in came…InuYasha's mother, Mrs. Izayoi Taisho. Getting up hastily, Kagome smiled and hid her hands behind her back, intent on not letting the older woman see her bitten fingernails.

"Hello, Mrs. Taisho, it's nice to see you again," Kagome said politely, giving the lady the best smile she could get. How had she not heard InuYasha's mother come in, and did Mrs. Taisho know anything about her declining their reward for her?

"Kagome, it's just nice to see me again?" Izayoi gave a hearty laugh and sat down on Kagome's bed, making a slight crease in the bed sheets. "I've come to talk to you about the Hawaii trip, as you might've guessed."

"What do you want to-I mean, is there anything you need to know?" the teenager corrected herself, cussing silently for nearly saying something that was rather impolite. "I'll always be around to help you, you know." Kagome hoped that this would make up for her last slip.

"Ah, as a matter of fact, yes, I need help, and badly," Mrs. Taisho angled her body a little more so that it was facing Kagome. "You see, my son is getting rather cocky and rude towards his family members and peers, and I might need you. Can you PLEASE go on that trip to Hawaii? You know, just humble him a little, that's all I'm asking of you." For a split second Kagome thought that InuYasha's mother's voice had turned a little whiny, like her son's.

"But I'm here to help, not for you to make me suffer!" Kagome protested before covering her mouth. Oops.

"That's exactly the reason why I need you," the mother pleaded, giving Kagome her puppy eyes. "I know you might not like my son from the way he acts, but could you please bring out the good in him? It would mean a lot to me and my husband, you know."

Kagome couldn't say no to Mrs. Taisho now. How could she ever say no to a woman who looked just like a little kid begging for candy? It was just too much, but the teenager couldn't sound the words out. Instead, Kagome stiffly nodded her consent and whispered, "Yes, alright, I will go, then."

"Oh, thank you a lot, it really means a lot to me! Remember, the trip is on the second of March!" Mrs. Taisho smiled briefly before exiting the room hurriedly, mumbling something about business.

As soon as Mrs. Taisho had exited the room, Kagome sniffed a little. Persuasion had once again prevailed. Unneeded tears threatening to spill, Kagome leapt onto her bed and stuffed her face into her pillow so that anyone that entered her room wouldn't see those babyish tears. She was still a baby, whether or not she acted like it.

Just as she'd suspected, her bedroom door opened and her mother came in.

"Go away," Kagome's muffled voice came from the bed.

"Honey, I know how much this trip is upsetting you, but please look on the positive side. Maybe you can tease and torture InuYasha during your month in Hawaii," the mother comforted her daughter. "I know that you agreed to Mrs. Taisho's plan, and that pleases me, since you've shown me that you're a kind-hearted girl. Kagome, don't cry, just look on the positive side of things."

As Mrs. Higurashi talked about torturing and teasing InuYasha, a idea formed in Kagome's head, and it grew. Suddenly beaming, Kagome surprised her mother by hopping out of the bed, yelling and cheering before rushing out the door with her shopping bag. Kagome's mother frowned; here was Kagome saying that she was too crazy and here Kagome was now, running and screaming happily and doing all sorts of strange things. Shaking her head, Mrs. Higurashi exited the room. At least her daughter wasn't sad anymore.

**With Mrs. Izayoi Taisho**

Mrs. Taisho clutched her bag even tighter as the taxi slowly moved through a traffic jam. Being surrounded by a whole bunch of cars honking and hooting was quite deafening and painful, she had to admit. But then again, this was Sunday, so who was she to say?

As soon as Izayoi reached her house, she ran towards it, a happy feeling bubbling inside of her. She was at home at last. Home sweet home, you could say. Upon returning, however, Mrs. Taisho met a disturbing scene: InuYasha clattering noisily around the house with her husband and Sesshomaru hot on his heels.

"Stop it, all of you!" was all the only-sane parent could shout out. "Get out, and don't come back into the house until you are calmed down!"

Suddenly looking up, Mrs. Taisho's fiancé sheepishly shuffled out of the door first, not meeting his angry wife's eyes. He had just been trying to stop InuYasha from eating too much before lunch, but Mr. Taisho knew better than to try and talk to Izayoi before she had calmed down. Averting his gaze from his wife, InuTaisho hurriedly shuffled out the door, and his two sons followed suite. Sighing, Mrs. Taisho immediately set about cleaning the place up; she had forgotten that anything good had to come with something bad.

**With Kikyo**

_Another day of shopping_, Kikyo thought gloomily as she handed over 100 to the cashier woman, a smiling, fat, dumpy woman. _And still that stupid jealous feeling for Kagome._ The teenager walked all the way to the parking lot, took out her car keys and drove home.

Upon arriving home, Kikyo saw a note on the kitchen table. Picking it up, Kikyo read the note before grinning, giving a whoop and throwing the note in the trash can. The teenager was about to fix a sandwich for herself when she heard the phone ringing. _Now who can that be,_ Kikyo thought as she took the phone from the receiver.

"Moshi moshi Kikyo's residence," Kikyo grinned at the last part. It was her trademark.

"Hello, Miss Kikyo, the mission is completed. Now will you go out with me?" a familiar voice said on the phone. Kikyo audibly slapped the phone before putting her ear back to it.

"No, there're only a few more chores I have for you. The date will have to wait. First you have to…"

**With Kagome**

She could sense it. Kikyo was up to no good, she could just feel it. Kagome uneasily shifted her shopping bag, careful not to let it suddenly slide off her shoulder. Maybe it was just her…putting on her best smile, Kagome strode into a shop saying: Cooking Supplies and Cake Recipes, The Best Shop Ever. After she'd carried out her plan, InuYasha would hate her forever. It would be fun…

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A/N: Well, how'd you like the chapter? Ok, it was the minimum, I admit, but I wanted to get this done early. And please don't be upset if I don't upset if I don't update for a few weeks or something, because I'm moving house, so yeah. Please review! 


	5. Chapter 5: The Plane Trip

Chapter 5: The Plane Trip

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.

A/N: Ok, so here's the fifth chapter. Sorry about the delay…so anyways, enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to review!

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"Kagome, wake up!" the 'dulcet' tones of Kagome's brother's ears bore into Kagome's head. Groaning, the high-school girl wearily raised her head and rubbed her eyes. "It's time for your plane trip to Hawaii, and I get the computer all to myself for a month! Yay!"

"Yeah Sota, whatever. What time is it?" Kagome asked. She hoped that it wasn't 9:00 yet. When Kagome turned to look at her brother, however, he had a guilty expression on his face.

"It's ten o'clock, Kagome," Sota barely raised his voice above a whisper as he said the words.

"WHAT! That means that I'll have missed the whole flight already!" Kagome screamed. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" But then again, her brother had always been a good actor, so Kagome grabbed the clock just to be sure. It said 8:00am.

Trying to be oblivious to the peals of laughter her sibling gave out, Kagome put the clock back on her night-table. Shoving Sota out the door, Kagome quickly got dressed and hurried down the stairs where her mother sat down, sipping a cup of coffee.

"Morning, honey, take whatever you want for breakfast," Mrs. Higurashi smiled at her grumpy daughter, who took her seat at the table and grabbed some toast. "Today's the day you're going to Hawaii, and I hope you have fun!"

_Geez, she makes things sound as if I'm already going now,_ Kagome thought unhappily. Was her mother actually willing to be separated from her own daughter for a month?

After a big breakfast, a lot of messing around from her brother and some fussing from her mother and grandfather, Kagome was ready to go. She wore a cap on her head (it was a rather sunny day), a black t-shirt and a pair of her favourite denim jeans. In her hand was a big luggage bag and some lunch, for she could not bear airline food, even if the airline was Continental Airlines or Cathay Pacific.

"I'm going to miss you so much!" Mrs. Higurashi embraced Kagome, her voice full of emotion. After a hasty goodbye, Kagome rode away in the limo InuYasha's father had sent (it had come just as Kagome was saying goodbye to her family) towards the airport.

**With Kikyo**

Kagome was gone, and Kikyo knew it. Sango and she were going to Hawaii on the same flight, because Miroku and Koga did not want to go to Hawaii and monitor on InuYasha's and Kagome's feelings for each other. Checking herself once more in the mirror, Kikyo grabbed her luggage and left in a taxi for the airport.

**With InuYasha**

_What's taking that wench so long?_ InuYasha wondered in irritation as he paced up and down the entrance of the airport, pushing several girls out of his way. Not that they cared; they were too busy giggling at how cute he was. Looking up, InuYasha finally saw a black limo driving closer. Kagome was inside.

"Hello wench," InuYasha couldn't help sneering quietly as he helped his soon-to-be-acquaintance out of the limo.

"Hello, dog-boy," Kagome couldn't help thinking that the acrobat looked rather like a dog to her. He was wearing his usual cap, therefore hiding the top of his head. What were those white things underneath?

"Hmph, you're in no position to say such things, because I'M the famous star acrobat of the 'Jewel of Four Souls' circus," InuYasha announced proudly and rather loudly, making a few girls giggle.

"As if I care," Kagome rolled her eyes. She really had to teach the mutt some etiquette. "You should learn on how to treat a girl, you know," the high-school girl added, hoping that the acrobat would get her current impression of him.

"I don't care about how to treat a girl! I'm not going to get married!" InuYasha retorted, and a few of his fan girls fainted with shock.

"Whatever, let's go in," Kagome feigned shock before following her guide through the automatic doors into the large airport.

When it was time to board the plane, however, InuYasha struck at Kagome.

"Boarding passes, please," the stewardess said to the duo.

"Here is mine. And you have yours?" InuYasha asked Kagome in a mocking tone.

"Of course, here is mine-hey! Where is it? I'm sure I had it when I left home!" Kagome said, a strange, red blush coming onto her cheeks. InuYasha smirked. He was a good thief.

"Madam, I'm sorry, but you can't board the plane unless you have your pass," the stewardess said. Personally she felt sorry for passengers who didn't have their boarding passes. She'd have let everyone in without having to use a boarding pass, but she'd be fined or something like that. Sighing, the stewardess waited patiently as Kagome rummaged through her handbag again.

Kagome, however, had the last laugh, as the stewardess had noticed her companion's evil smirk. "Sir, can you please check your bag for this lady's boarding pass?" the stewardess queried.

The look on InuYasha's face was a guilty one, and Kagome caught it. "Give my boarding pass back, you moron!" Kagome cried, and she extended her hand towards the startled hanyou.

"And if I don't?" InuYasha grinned broadly.

"Think of what you've done, multiply that ten times over, and that's what I'll do," Kagome glared daggers as if to emphasize.

"See ya, then," InuYasha waved and dashed off, thinking, _what'll she do now?_

"I will seriously kill you!" Kagome roared as she sprinted off in the direction of the escaping hanyou with amazing speed. The stewardess, after looking at them, shook her head and continued along the line. And at the end of the queue, Kikyo sighed and Sango rubbed her temples in agitation. How were they supposed to get the two together?

By the time Kagome had gotten her boarding pass back, the stewardess was just finishing off the last passenger. Dragging the half-dead hanyou over to the counter, Kagome slapped their boarding passes down and glared at the stewardess as if to say, "Say a word and die." Gulping, the stewardess nodded and led the two to their appointed seats in the first class.

As soon as the stewardess had left, Kagome lay back and closed her eyes. It had taken her an arm and a leg to catch that ever-so-nimble acrobat. She had never seen anybody run as fast as him. What could he have been doing to run so fast without using his arms to propel him forward?

The plane then took off, and Kagome savoured the sensation of the aeroplane moving upwards into the sky. That was the best thing about the plane; you didn't get that sensation every day. InuYasha, on the other hand, did not like the plane going upwards. He hated the wind whistling past his ever-so-sensitive ears. Hopefully Kagome hadn't noticed that he didn't have any human ears. Glancing over at the not-so-hot-chick, InuYasha noticed her sleeping. Part Two of his plan was about to commence.

"…and the elephant alerts his arch-nemesis of what is going to happen," InuYasha breathed into Kagome's ear before clashing two mini symbols in Kagome's ear. Unfortunately, everyone in the vicinity for five meters woke up, but they did not see who the culprit was; that is, until some high-school girl bellowed the culprit's name.

"INUYASHA, I WILL REALLY BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF YOU!" Kagome yelled before unbuckling her seat belt and hurling herself at the acrobat. It took five stewards and stewardesses to separate the two.

"You'd better not try anything else," Kagome snarled before fastening her seat belt again and falling back asleep. InuYasha, however, didn't hear, but he knew; she'd really beaten the crap out of him. What kind of girl had fists of iron?

That was when his Heaven came. It came in the form of a stewardess.

"Sir, since you are disrupting our madam here, can you please move to the business class please? We have a seat there; it is ready for you," the stewardess smiled politely, and InuYasha scowled openly. His plan was for Kagome to move over to economy class, and not him!

"Fine," InuYasha smirked inwardly. Kagome would be SO worried when she'd find out that he'd moved. "I'd be glad to. You don't know how much this girl has been aggravating me for."

**With Kikyo and Sango**

"Well, we've been sitting for what seems like ages, and we still haven't got pen onto paper yet," Sango sighed, tapping the table with a pen. "I'm still out of ideas."

"Yes, same here," Kikyo breathed out loudly and stared at the blank piece of paper. "And I can guess what happened when I heard a loud noise from the first class section. Are you sure that InuYasha and Kagome are in the first-class section?"

"Of course, InuYasha himself told me," Sango reassured her peer. "Don't be such a worry-wart, my friend."

"Actually, I think that there's a perfectly good reason to be a worry-wart right now, and don't look up," Kikyo bit her lip until it bled. A stewardess was walking along the isle-followed by InuYasha.

"Get down, InuYasha's here," Kikyo hissed, and she and Sango sank down so low in their chairs that you would've thought that those were seats with two mutated lumps on them, but the stewardess was not fooled.

"Miss, there's a man disrupting others, and I was wondering if you'd switch seats with him? Please?" the stewardess asked Sango, and in InuYasha's opinion, 'lump number 1'.

"And if I say 'no'?" Sango squeaked, doing well in hiding her voice.

"Well…we'll move you anyways," the stewardess smiled weakly.

"HEY, THAT'S NO FAIR! YOU DON'T EVEN RESPECT OTHER PEOPLE'S PRIVACY!" Sango roared, suddenly whipping her head up. Realizing her fatal mistake, she gulped and stared right into the eyes of…InuYasha.

"What are YOU doing on here?" the acrobat asked, completely oblivious to the visible piece of paper Kikyo held in her clenched fist. "I thought that it was just me and wench-head in the first class going to Hawaii!"

Kikyo, quickly finding an alibi, sat back properly in her seat, gazed at InuYasha and said, "Sango and I were sent to monitor you two and help out if anything went wrong." And that wasn't a total lie.

"Well, since you all know each other, I may as well arrange four seats for you all in the economy class!" the stewardess said cheerily.

"What! Can't you arrange for a four-seater in the business or first class?" InuYasha shouted.

"I'm sorry, sir, but there aren't any other seats in the first-class section," the stewardess apologized.

Beckoning to another stewardess being followed by a confused Kagome, the first stewardess left with all four passengers for the economy class.

When both stewardesses had left, Kagome angrily said to InuYasha, "And whose fault is it for landing us all here? Nobody's but yours!"

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A/N: Thanks for reading my fanfic, and please review! Reviews would be nice…and also, if typing in 'RIDYAnimefan' won't work on the search engine, please try 'RIDYAAnimefan'. 


	6. Chapter 6: Kagome's Revenge

Chapter 6: Kagome's Revenge

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.

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A/N: There's nothing much to say, really. I guess that I should just say that I apologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes I make. Enjoy the chapter!

The sun was just about setting as the Northwest Airlines plane landed in Hawaii. Gratefully stretching up from her seat, Kagome, InuYasha, Sango and Kikyo followed the other passengers out of the plane and into the baggage claim area. After collecting their luggage, the four companions wearily dragged their feet through the immigration department and out into a limo that awaited them.

Finally Kikyo spoke. "Well, everyone, we're here at last," she announced, smiling weakly at her half-asleep peers.

"Yeah, I guess," Kagome yawned. She was no longer mad at Kikyo for not telling her about the trip to Hawaii. What was there to be angry about, now that she came to think about it? "But why did Mr. Taisho appoint you to be one of the monitors? Couldn't Miroku or Koga have done it?"

"Ah…he just didn't want you to feel uncomfortable, so he sent Kikyo along as well," Sango hurriedly said. "Phew, that was a close one," she added silently to Kikyo, who was sitting next to her. After that, everything was silent again.

Kagome didn't feel so tired after she'd stepped out of the taxi. '_Jack lack'_ was the high-school girl's first thought, and Kagome shivered. She hated not being able to sleep in the night time. Glancing over at the silent acrobat, Kagome quickly calculated that InuYasha was too exhausted to be feeling anything at the moment.

After saying 'see you later' to each other (the four had decided to have dinner together) Kagome and InuYasha reluctantly retired to their hotel room in the Sheraton Waikiki hotel. It was rather uncomfortable, as Kagome still remembered the incident in the plane and did not know what to say, and InuYasha, who wasn't himself, had nothing to say.

"I think I'll go to bed right now," InuYasha said, plopping himself onto the double bed…wait, double bed! But he'd said to have two smaller beds that were for sure! Kagome and he weren't even a couple yet!

"But you can't just go to bed now!" Kagome argued, suddenly full of energy. "We've already arranged for dinner with Kikyo and Sango!"

"Yeah, whatever, you can go, but I sure am hell not," InuYasha mumbled into the pillow.

"You sure as hell are coming, it's rude if you don't come," Kagome retorted. "Now, haul yourself off that bed and get going."

'Sheesh, you could be a lot nicer, like, by THAT much," InuYasha held his fingers a centimetre apart from each other. "But then again, it takes a lot of effort for you to do such a thing."

"Just go!" shoving the hanyou out the door, Kagome stormed on after InuYasha and slammed the door shut as a warning for everybody to stay out of her way.

Going through the corridor, however, InuYasha's rather woozy eyesight caught sight of a fat woman with pimples on her face. Thinking that the fat woman was a 'hot chick', the acrobat called out, "Hey, baby! Want to go out with me?"

"I'm married, I'll tell you that," the fat woman glared daggers at InuYasha and Kagome (who was pretending to be looking at a painting on the wall) before moving on. InuYasha was nearly clobbered half to death if Kagome hadn't been there to save the hanyou.

At the restaurant, Kagome apologized for being late and explaining the reason why, with Kikyo laughing sometimes and Sango hitting InuYasha in all the right places. By that time, the four had quite a few people staring at their strange actions.

"Caesar salad," a waiter holding a plate of Caesar salad hurriedly put it down on the table and walked away, not wanting to be seen with strange people.

After dinner, InuYasha was back to his old self again. Rather relieved and disgusted at the same time, Kagome turned her head away as the acrobat wiped his mouth and burped quietly, but loud enough for others in the vicinity to hear. Smacking InuYasha when the other customers had looked away, Kagome paid the bill and half-walked half-dragged the hanyou out the door with Kikyo and Sango following behind, both whistling innocently.

"Kagome, thanks for the dinner," Kikyo and Sango said in unison politely. InuYasha, on the other hand, snorted and muttered, "Thanks, wench." Deciding that that was the best she'd ever get out of the rude creature, Kagome rolled her eyes, arranged for a breakfast the next day, said goodnight to her friends and walked back to hers and InuYasha's hotel.

"I didn't think you'd be THAT polite," InuYasha snorted. "I didn't even think you'd get that far. It must've been hard for you."

"But unlike YOU, at least I try," Kagome retorted.

"Yeah, wench, whatever," InuYasha said, turning off the light. The duo both fell asleep far away from each other, Kagome dreaming sweet dreams about getting her revenge on InuYasha.

**With Kikyo and Sango**

"…I think I love him," Kikyo mumbled in her sleep for the third time that night.

Sango furrowed her eyebrow after hearing this. Ever since Kikyo had begun mumbling this loud phrase in her sleep, Sango had been wondering on _who_ the high-school girl could be talking about.

Could it be InuYasha, Koga, Miroku or Sesshomaru? Sango secretly hoped that InuYasha and Miroku were out of the picture, since InuYasha and Kagome were already a kind of pair and she had secretly fancied Miroku, even if he was a little lecherous.

Which of the four would go best with Kikyo? The name 'InuYasha' immediately flashed into the performer's mind, but hurriedly brushing the suggestion away, Sango thought of the next name. Hm…oh! InuYasha would be humble enough once Kagome sorted him out, but what about SESSHOMARU? The youkai had always been arrogant, stubborn and proud, but Kikyo's perfect ways would bring the youkai down, and to rub things in, she was a human, and Sesshomaru detested humans. Smirking, Sango fell into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

The next morning, Kikyo and Sango were all dressed and ready to go.

"Oh, I bet that Kagome's and InuYasha's room is very fancy!" Kikyo smiled as the two headed off.

"I'll say," Sango grinned back at her friend. Looking back in front of her, the performer exclaimed, "Here we are!" before proudly stepping back to let Kikyo admire the flashy building.

"Wow, that's even better than our four-star hotel room," Kikyo whispered, hoping that Sango wouldn't give her a lecture on having to be grateful for having a nice hotel room like Kagome did. Speechless, Kikyo timidly entered the automatic doors and Sango followed suite. They soon stood befuddled as the richly furnished room spun around them.

When the two had regained their composure, Sango and Kikyo stepped into a lift. When they came out, however, a loud sound met their ears, and it came from Kagome's and InuYasha's room. Deciding not to go in yet, Sango and Kikyo both pressed their ears to the door and listened hard, for the wood was very thick.

"Kagome, you can do it! I can't hold on any longer!" the two heard the hanyou scream.

"Well, I'm suffering here, so you could pity me for once! Oh gosh, I can't do it!" Kagome seemed to be screaming back.

"Oh yes you can!" the acrobat moaned.

Kikyo and Sango had had enough. Bursting in, the two closed their eyes, but when they opened them again, they saw…InuYasha sitting down beside the entrance of the bathroom door moaning in what seemed to be frustration. As an added bonus, a plopping sound could be heard.

"Um…hi," Kikyo couldn't help grinning sheepishly. If Kagome had been around, then Kikyo's 'perfect' reputation would have been ruined.

"What? Just…help me get to the loo! I need it badly, and the wench inside is constipated!" InuYasha howled, clutching his crotch. "Just…hurry!"

"Kikyo, what do we do?" Sango asked, starting to panic. Confusion had clouded her mind, so she could not think clearly.

"What do you mean, _what do we do_? We bring him to OUR hotel bathroom, of course!" Kikyo cried, grabbing the hanyou's arm. Nodding, Sango helped the high-school girl haul the hanyou up and drag him towards the lift and through the doors of the hotel through to the hotel, which was waiting on the other side. Maybe there was hope after all. And maybe there was not.

"AAGH! UH OH, I'M GONNA…" words could not describe the hanyou's embarrassment as he began to pee uncontrollably through his pants and onto the pavement. Passer-bys couldn't help watching in shock and amusement as InuYasha, the most famous acrobat for miles around, began to make a fool of himself…for the very first time.

"Hey, Kikyo, Sango," Kagome was walking calmly towards the three. "I heard you guys inside our hotel room. What was going-" that was when realization dawned on the high-school girl. Smirking, Kagome sneered at the acrobat, who was staring down in shame at the puddle of pee, "Serves you right for treating me like this the whole time."

That was when Kikyo realized what Kagome had done. She had always been capable of doing the impossible when angered, and InuYasha had pushed way too far.

"Kagome, can I speak to you for a moment please?" the tone of Kikyo's voice made her friend freeze. "Just for a moment?" the tone of voice then turned syrupy. Smiling sweetly at Sango and InuYasha, Kikyo dragged Kagome away.

"Kagome," Kikyo sternly prodded Kagome in the chest. "You did NOT do what I think you did, did you?"

"What do you mean?" Kagome tried to hide her sudden guilt, but in vain.

"Yes, you must have," Kikyo frowned. "Maybe you should go confess to InuYasha right now. Even though he deserves to be whacked over the head, he does NOT deserve _that_."

"Oh well…" Kagome felt reluctant, but disobeying Kikyo in moments like this was like committing suicide. Walking over to the dazed acrobat, Kagome hung her head and mumbled, "I'm sorry I pretended that I was constipated, that I ruined each of your $1000 microphones and made you embarrass yourself in front of other people."

InuYasha's head snapped up, and at the time, he yelped, "You did WHAT!" Picking himself up, the hanyou quickly rushed back to the hotel to check and see if what Kagome had said about his $1000 microphones was true.

"You actually did that…?" Sango looked at Kagome, who still had her head bowed low. "I can't believe that you actually did that!"

"Well, you see, whenever Kagome is angered greatly, she will take her revenge such as now. You'd better tell InuYasha that; that way, he won't treat Kagome the same way ever again," Kikyo explained.

As if right on cue, the hanyou came back, sobbing sorrowfully. Looking down and trying not to laugh at the same time, Kagome hurriedly walked away from the 'scene of crime' and walked into a restaurant. She didn't want to be involved with InuYasha's problems right now. Suddenly feeling hungry, Kagome absent-mindedly sat down at an empty table and ordered a glass of milk and some toast.

"So, you need to apologize again," Kagome heard the dreaded voice speaking now. "Say sorry, or else!"

"What are you doing, you…?" were the last words Kagome gasped out loud before a hand clasped her mouth and dragged her out of the restaurant and into a nearby alley-way…

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A/N: Cliffy! Ooh, I wonder what happens next. Well, I'll tell you something useful: I'm still deciding. Please review! 


	7. Chapter 7: The Court Case

Chapter 7: The Court Case

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha nor do I own the names mentioned later on.

A/N: Thanks for all those reviews (smiles happily). But anyhow, let's get to the point and move the story on. Enjoy!

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"Where's Kagome?" Kikyo whispered to Sango across the table. She didn't want InuYasha to hear Kagome's name after what he'd gone through.

"How would I know? She just deserted us completely!" Sango hissed back, but she was, unfortunately loud enough for the sniffling hanyou to hear.

"I-I don't want to see her again! I'd…I'd rather redo college forty times over than hear that wench's name again!" InuYasha howled, and some people in the vicinity stared. Those who were recently in the same street InuYasha had broken down in simply rolled their eyes and continued on with whatever they were doing.

"Calm down, InuYasha. Kagome may act badly towards you, but on the inside, she's real nice," Kikyo attempted to stick up for her friend.

"Provided you get on her good side," Sango added, but she was quickly silenced by a death glare from Kikyo.

"Oh really?" InuYasha's sniffles had suddenly gone away to be suddenly replaced by a snappy mood. "Things would've gone easier for me if Kagome had been kinder!" The last part made Kikyo and Sango stare at the acrobat, making him uncomfortable.

"W-what?" the acrobat asked tentatively.

"You've never said Kagome's name out loud before," Sango said incredulously. "You've only referred to her as 'wench' or 'idiot' or something rude like that."

And all the hanyou could do was grunt and look away, silently cursing the noodle (A/N: Just in case you're wondering, my family sometimes we call people doing strange actions 'noodle') who had made him say Kagome's name out loud.

**With Kagome**

"Ooh, will you just LET ME GO!" Kagome screamed loudly at her capturer. They were in an alleyway, and Kagome was enjoying the experience of being tied up and immobilized much.

"Stop screaming, woman," the man chuckled. He had blue eyes but he had tied a cloth around his mouth. The man was wearing black clothing which showed off his powerful muscles. "Nobody will hear you from here."

"Well, there's a first time for everything, as you might already have heard," Kagome said between gritted teeth before hollering loudly, "SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!"

"Stupid woman, if I'd known that people could hear us from here, wouldn't I have put a gag on you?" the man snorted, and suddenly taking a bottle of purple liquid from a pocket that Kagome had never noticed before, stuck it in her face and sneered, "If you can't shut up, just tell me to put this poison in your mouth. I'll be glad enough to."

An abrupt noise of car doors slamming then reached Kagome and her capturer's ears, and the two turned to see three well-built policemen stalking casually up to them.

"Excuse me sir, but what are you doing with this damsel in distress?" one policeman said, and Kagome was half-relieved and half-disgusted at the same time; half-relieved because someone had discovered her capturer, and half-disgusted because she could see some nose hair protruding from the policeman's nose. She had expected her saviour to be like a knight on a horse, not a fat, balding potato with hair coming out of his nose.

"You see, sir, we are acting a scene out here," the man in black said with composure, but Kagome knew from the tone of the man's voice that he was both afraid and guilty, and another policeman seemed to have noticed that as well.

"And where are the camera men and all that funky stuff?" the third policeman asked suspiciously, too dim to notice Kagome's capturer's guilty tone of voice.

"They're, um…they seemed to have forgotten something, they wouldn't tell what, and they went back, leaving us. The two of us were getting ready," the man hurriedly gave an alibi before inwardly glaring at his captive to get him out of the mess. Unfortunately for the young man, Kagome got the wrong idea.

"Please sirs, don't listen to him. I was in that restaurant over there-"Kagome unsuccessfully attempted to point at the restaurant to the right of the alleyway, "when this 'gentleman'-"Kagome glared at the young man whose face had gone pale, "-kidnapped me and took me here."

"Well, men, that clears the case," the ugly revolting policeman said to his comrades. "I was thinking how strange it was when we heard some screaming coming from here."

At that moment, Kagome stuck her tongue out at her capturer, who was glaring at her. Her eyes seemed to say: "I _told_ you that there was a first time for everything, and you JUST wouldn't believe me."

"Young man, you are officially arrested. Men, take him!" was all the short, squat policeman cried out before his two 'henchmen' grabbed the young man by the arms and frog-marched him to a flashy police car. When the trio had gone, Kagome's 'revolting saviour' untied her and said in a gruff voice, "You be careful, miss. There are lots of people out there who are desperate for money." Inwardly Kagome sweat-dropped; somehow she didn't think that the man had captured her for money. Her thoughts, however, were quickly pushed aside when the policeman told her to follow him to the police station.

The ride to the police station was a silent one, save for the occasional thanks Kagome stuttered out. She couldn't think of anything to say, and the policeman couldn't either.

At the police station Kagome immediately spotted her capturer now captured between a wooden chair and strong ropes. Gloating, Kagome took a seat next to the furious-looking man before staring nervously at the several policemen gathered around the table.

After explaining the whole ordeal, Kagome closed her mouth and twiddled her thumbs nervously, trying to keep her cool. Everyone in the room was silent until…

"Kagome-sama, I was so worried about you!" Kagome froze in place as she thought of the person saying those words.

"Hey Sango, what's been happening ever since I walked out on you guys?" Kagome cried, whipping her head around before adding silently, "I'm sorry about all that havoc, you tell InuYasha that."

"Ok," Sango smiled for a moment before frowning and leaning closer to her friend. "Where were you? Kikyo and I practically searched all over Hawaii for you, and why are you here?"

"Um, I'll tell you later. If you listen carefully then you might figure out for yourself what happened," Kagome whispered, hurriedly turning back to the impatient policemen and officers.

"Miss, we have already made our minds up," one policeman said rather coldly. Looking for the speaker's name on his uniform, Kagome soon saw the name 'Heero Yuy' before tuning back in to what the cold man was saying: "Is this okay with you?"

"I suppose so," Kagome shrugged carelessly and Sango stared, completely oblivious to the drooly stares of another policeman. Kagome, however, had noticed, and she read that policeman's label: Duo Maxwell.

"So anyhow, you may leave. We do, however, need for you to attend the court case for this man," an officer named Trowa Barton continued from where his comrade had left off. "It is going to be held this coming Saturday from 2-3pm, and please be punctual."

"I will," Kagome promised, standing up from her chair. She and Sango were about to leave when InuYasha and Kikyo rushed in. The acrobat looked sour; it seemed that Kikyo had persuaded him by force to accompany her to the police station.

"Kagome, why are you here?" Kikyo panted, fanning herself with her hand.

"Later, Kikyo," Kagome muttered, and Sango nodded in agreement.

Once outside the police station, Kagome filled everyone else in on what had happened. When she was finished, InuYasha spat, "You wench! If I'd known that you were always up to no good, then I would've gotten father to cancel the whole trip already! Look what you've done, dragging us into something that's none of our business!"

"Well, it's mine, and if one of you isn't my friend, then that person can go back to Tokyo!" Kagome hissed venomously. InuYasha was inwardly startled by this; was she saying that HE was her friend? He certainly didn't want to go back to Tokyo and return to the acrobat school with his annoying brother. But he didn't want Kagome around either.

"Well, since nobody's turning around and storming back to pack his things, let's go have something to eat," Kikyo said, emphasizing the word 'his'. She wanted very badly to make InuYasha feel bad about insulting her friend.

The rest of the day passed by silently between the four people, and the only time they talked was when they were buying something from a store. At the end of the day Kagome and InuYasha were nearly back to normal, but not normal enough to be on talking terms with each other again.

"…and I can't believe that I have to share a ROOM with that jerk," the high-school girl grumbled as she and InuYasha retired to their hotel suite for the night.

After getting into the 'single' bed with InuYasha, Kagome suddenly realized that she hadn't thought of her family all day. Feeling guilty, the high-school girl rolled over on the bed and sighed. Pushing her family out of her mind, Kagome fell asleep, dreaming about court cases and her family.

Thursday soon came, and if you went to the hotel InuYasha and Kagome were in and visited their floor, you would find two women creeping down the corridor-at 5:30

"Sango, be quiet!" Kikyo hissed as she and her room-mate crept down the corridor to Kagome's and InuYasha's room. "We're already quite lucky that you managed to steal Kagome's extra room key-we don't need you messing things up!"

"Okay, calm down," Sango half-whined half-whispered. "No need to get your knickers in a twist."

Grunting with both satisfaction and annoyance, Kikyo proceeded to advance towards her goal with Sango following right on her heels. When they finally reached the hotel room, Kikyo hurriedly flashed the card at the censor, wincing at the tiny beep. Sango, whose tension was building every second, yelped loudly and rushed away. Cursing, Kikyo bolted after her, afraid that Sango's acrobat peer would hear both noises.

After waiting for fifteen minutes, Kikyo and Sango hurriedly tip-toed back to their goal and flashed the card again. Covering Sango's mouth quickly if she made any noise, Kikyo stuck her head round the door. Nodding to her friend, both girls quietly edged round the open door and sauntered to where the other two were still snoozing away…

"GOTCHA!" two loud voices screamed in triumph, and in a flash, both high-school girl and performer were being 'clobbered' by a triumphant InuYasha and Kagome.

"How did you know…?" Sango asked when Kagome and InuYasha finally relented. She was rubbing her sore hand, which had been crushed by Kagome's body in the tackle.

"When both wench and I woke up from the racket you two were making outside, I wasn't fooled. Your scents were still pretty strong, so I stayed awake and waited for you two to sneak in. I even saw you steal Kagome's extra card-key, but I wanted to surprise you guys. Woman here couldn't fall back asleep, so we hatched a plan to ambush you fools," InuYasha reported triumphantly before realizing his big mistake.

"You actually WORKED with Kagome?" Kikyo asked, smirking. "Sango, you shouldn't doubt me ever again, I'm telling you!"

"Hmph, wench insisted on us getting together, and she kept pulling at my ears whenever I said no!" InuYasha defended himself and pointed an accusing finger at Kagome.

"What? I was just-wait, that doesn't make sense, because you don't HAVE ears!" Kagome contradicted. "By the way…why do you always wear a hat or nightcap around? You never let anybody see the top of your head!"

"Yeah, InuYasha…spill!" Kikyo prompted, prodding the hanyou in the arm.

"Sango, don't tell, or else..." InuYasha glared a death glare at Sango, and the woman gulped. Every time this guy said 'or else', he really meant it. She remembered the time Miroku had spilled the beans to her about InuYasha's secret. She later found out that the hanyou had beat his friend up and sent him out into the streets with only his underwear on.

Smiling at the memory, Sango absent-mindedly nodded her head and the acrobat leaned back on a bed leg with satisfaction as he readjusted his nightcap, careful not to let Kagome or Kikyo see his big secret.

"Oh, don't be so secretive!" Kagome pleaded. "I'd do ANYTHING just to find out your big secret!"

"Ok, if you're willing to do anything, then why don't you return home…then I'll tell you my big secret!" the hanyou said, grinning.

"InuYasha, you know perfectly well that Kagome can't go back to Tokyo unless you come along with her, and I know that you don't want to go back, Mister Demanding," Sango teased.

"Enough chat, I'm going back to bed. And why are you here at such an ungodly hour?" Kagome yawned suddenly, and InuYasha couldn't help catching the waves of sleepiness off the girl sitting beside him. Almost at the same time the pair fell back down on the bed, snoring audibly. Kikyo grinned and nudged Sango.

"Get the camera out."

Kagome had butterflies in her stomach. What if that man found a way of proving himself innocent? But criminals always made a mistake some way or another…Kagome shook her head. She was reading too many fantasy and detective books. Clearing her head of any random thoughts clogging her mind, Kagome yawned and took a nap the rest of the way to the place where the court case was to be held.

fast forward

Kagome, InuYasha, Kikyo and Sango walked timidly into a huge hall decorated with huge chandeliers and rows of benches, with at least one person on each one. In the very front stood a huge platform where the people involved could go up and say something (yes, including the judge. He was pulled into the matter, remember?). Dazzled by the scene, the four people suddenly felt like four grains of rice, possibly sand.

"Miss Kagome? Please take a seat with your friends," the same policeman Kagome had seen back at the police station, Trowa Barton, came forward. "We're glad you could come. The case starts in fifteen minutes." the man hardly looked the type to be glad about anything at all.

Smiling a little, Kagome hurriedly sat down in the nearest seat, which was the forty-fifth row from the front. The other three, unsure of what to do, followed their 'leader' and took the seats closest to her.

The wait turned the minutes to hours, for InuYasha had somehow managed to mess the whole area up in those fifteen minutes that passed by. First, he started off by angering a fat, balding man eating a bagel in front of him with a few smart remarks, which then lead to a big brawl and a few smashed chandeliers (InuYasha was nimble and light enough to cling onto every chandelier, but unfortunately his opponent was not). After that, he took the fat man's bagel and dumped it onto Kagome's capturer's lawyer, which just happened to be the obese twin of the first man. More chaos ensued, and in the end InuYasha came out breathless but safe and sound. The sad thing was, the acrobat did not have to pay a single penny for the wreck, for the other two men had caused it all. InuYasha then noticed something familiar about Kagome's capturer's eyes; they looked a lot like someone he knew back at home. He couldn't, however, tell for sure, since the man had a cloth round his mouth (but not exactly gagged). Shrugging the matter off, the hanyou grinned at his victims and took a seat.

So you could imagine the judge's expression when he came into the huge hall.

"I don't know you, I'm sorry," Kagome turned away from the teenager that had caused every single bad thing and sighed. How was she going to cope with someone of the sort?

After the mess had been cleared up and the two brothers had paid the huge fee, the judge cleared his throat and began. "Today we have all gathered around to decide on whether this man," the judge made a tiny gesture towards Kagome's rather befuddled capturer, "is innocent or guilty. May the Lord guide us through the whole trial and give us the right decision." Making a quick sign of the cross, the judge nodded at the congregation. "Mr. Lighter, I will give you the honour of starting."

The guilty man's lawyer stood up. "We should say this man is innocent because, according to the facts, he is…he is…" Mr. Lighter stumbled. It was obvious that he hadn't prepared himself well. Kagome caught her capturer shoot a dirty look at his lawyer.

"Well, in that case…Ms. Higurashi, you don't have to say anything. Please may we have the verdict?" the judge asked, a cool expression on his face.

A few moments silence, then…

"GUILTY!"

The triumphant roar of those who wanted the 'criminal' in jail was deafening. There were so many that believed in Kagome Higurashi that it was unbelievable. The reason why they chose Kagome was probably because they had recognized the acrobat that had caused most of the chaos before the case had started, and they probably knew how short the hanyou's temper was and that the Higurashi girl was staying with him. Nobody wanted to insult his 'girlfriend'.

As a few guards led the criminal away, Kagome suddenly saw a woman curse the man and rip off the cloth round his mouth in an attempt to show everyone who he was. And then InuYasha realized.

"Hey, that guy is innocent!" the hanyou yelled, jumping onto the stage and punching a guard in the face. Everyone gasped. It was evident that not one of them had ever witnessed somebody contradicting the verdict, which was like the final decision for every case. Kagome and Sango, who recognized the man as well, began defending the confused and flushing Koga.

back in Kagome's and InuYasha's hotel

"Koga, why did you pretend to capture me?" Kagome rubbed her eyebrow in frustration and stared at the second acrobat, who she and InuYasha were getting no answers from.

"Because-"the wolf youkai paused, thinking of some stupid answer that wouldn't not get his questioners anywhere.

But InuYasha, who had been trying his best to hold his patience, finally snapped. Grabbing the scared wolf youkai up, the hanyou roared, with spittle flying in Koga's face, "Tell us, or else-"

"Okay, okay," Koga paused for a moment before speaking. "Kikyo, Sango, Miroku and I want you two to get together. That's why three of us decided to come here and monitor you guys."

"WHAT!" Kagome and InuYasha just about exploded together. "So that's why Kikyo and Sango unexpectedly turned up on that plane!"

"And when is Miroku coming?" Kagome asked suspiciously, expecting Koga to hesitate.

To the girl's surprise, however, Koga did not sound apprehensive. "Oh, he's going to arrive in the Hawaii airport at 11:00pm this coming Friday," Koga shrugged, feeling more like a traitor every second.

"Well Koga, go tell your peers that they can rest well assured that we're a couple now," InuYasha smirked, draping his free lazy arm over Kagome, who pretended (when Koga wasn't looking) to vomit and make gagging noises. She was nearly caught in the process.

"Fine," freeing himself from InuYasha's grasp on his collar, Koga turned around and marched out of the room.

After the hanyou had made sure that his fellow wolf friend was out of earshot, he turned to Kagome and snarled, "Why did you have to nearly bust me? I was also helping you out, you know!"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Yes, in a bad sense."

"H-hey!" InuYasha began shouting like an immature five year old. "If you think so, why don't you go along and tell the others that I really hate you and that Koga's message is wrong? You're nothing but someone who stops me from going back home!"

Now that really hit the spot.

"InuYasha," Kagome could feel her bottom lip tremble just a tiny bit. "I-I think it's only right that I should go back to Tokyo, so you can't stay here anymore."

And finally bursting into tears, Kagome stormed out the room, leaving a gawping hanyou with a cap on his head behind. He hadn't thought she was that sensitive.

with the others

"Koga, how could you?" Kikyo practically screamed. "We told you to come to Hawaii and make things seem like a surprise, but not THAT WAY!"

"Geez," Koga muttered under his breath. "You don't need to get your knickers in a twist."

"NO, you've got EVERYBODY'S knickers in a twist. And how will Miroku react if InuYasha and Kagome follow us to the airport or go there in advance? Huh? HUH?" Kikyo screamed even louder, this time in his ear.

"'Huh' what?" a rather hurt voice said. Whipping around, Kikyo saw a sad but confused looking Kagome advancing towards them.

"Oh nothing," Sango said rather hastily. "We were just talking about something. Why do you look so sorrowful, as if you were going back to Tokyo?" the performer added.

"Because I am," Kagome replied expressionlessly.

* * *

A/N: Whew! I'm sorry this took so long, but unless you didn't want 9 pages of hard work, then you can complain. I know that court cases don't usually work out the way I made it work out in this chapter, but I had to make the whole thing short and snappy. Please review! 


	8. Chapter 8: Back to Tokyo

Chapter 8: Back to Tokyo…or is it?

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.

A/N: Ok, even though I didn't get many reviews, I'm still going to continue this story until it's finished. There's not much to say but to wish you all a happy reading!

* * *

It took a moment for Kagome's words to register in her friends' minds. Then Koga said, "Dang! And I've come here, all for nothing!" 

"Oh well, it wouldn't have worked even if Kagome weren't going back to Tokyo," Kikyo sighed tonelessly, and Kagome and Koga glared at their friend/peer, knowing what she was talking about.

"So where's InuYasha?" Sango asked, desperately trying to change the subject, still in denial that Kagome was going home. The subject of InuYasha, however, struck Kagome like lightning, and with a grunt, Kagome turned away and headed back to the hotel to get packed. She really did mean her words.

**With InuYasha**

The hanyou sighed and took another swig of his beer. The only thing he could do now after that wench Kagome had decided to fly back home was to go off and get himself sober, try not to think about the way mom and dad would treat him when he returned home earlier than usual. Gritting his teeth in anger and frustration, InuYasha punched the air as if Kagome were floating right where his fist was, and a few people stared. Bringing his fist back down onto the table, the almost drunk hanyou finished his beer, gave some money to the bartender and staggered out of the pub.

**InuYasha's P.O.V**

I was still furious at Kagome for losing her temper and deciding to go home, 'cos what she's doing at the same time is dragging me back. And even if she decides to not bring me along, somebody from my household will probably see her, question her, and tell me to haul my fat butt back to Tokyo. These are the thoughts that I want to get out of my head as I stumble across the road, the very same one I peed on when that wench humiliated me.

Feeling another wave of anger wash through me, I stopped in the middle for a moment and smiled dreamily yet evilly as I imagined the girl getting punched over and over again by me, then roasted on a barbecue and quartered like in those old days. Sometimes I get a little side-tracked, and this was another of those times.

As I suddenly blacked out, however, my last thoughts were _Oh shitaki mushrooms._

**Nobody's P.O.V**

Believe it or not, Kikyo's perfect arguing skills persuaded Kagome to stay until the rest of the day was over. But the energy that the high-school girl had used to dissuade Kagome from going back to Tokyo at least for a while was exhausting, and Kikyo had gone straight to bed once she had forced her best friend to stay until the day was over. Oblivious to the silent cheering that her supporters (a.k.a. Sango and Koga) had given her, Kikyo simply collapsed on the bed and gave out. After putting a blanket on her friend, Kagome strode out of the building over to the pub that InuYasha had recently been in. She had never drunk an alcoholic drink before, but she just enjoyed the songs that were occasionally played in pubs. Those songs usually calmed her down, and she liked it.

As the high-school girl was just about to enter the pub, loud wailing sirens caught her attention. Frowning in confusion, Kagome walked over to a big crowd that she'd just noticed and tried to push her way into the middle. Eventually, after a few cusses and curses from people who were pushed aside, the high-school girl gasped, for what she saw was unbelievable: a bloody InuYasha on the pavement, a few ambulances around and a beautiful yet 'sinful' Porsche. Kagome also spotted a man with long, black hair and a white coat protesting against something, Kagome couldn't figure out what. The only thing she knew was that InuYasha had been injured by a car and, judging by the pub close to the 'scene of crime', he had just recently been sober.

"People, get away!" a deep voice called out, and Kagome immediately recognized Trowa Barton keeping the crowd away from InuYasha's injured body. Feeling rather desperate to see him, the high-school girl rushed forward and clung onto the policeman's arm as if he were life itself.

"Please let me see my…my…brother!" Kagome put on her fake tears and let them roll down her cheeks. "Ever since last year, he's been missing in Tokyo and I've only found him now! Please let me stay by his side!" Of course, the inner Kagome was retching. If she'd been Kikyo, she would've been able to do better 'fake tears', but the tears she produced were enough to make the cold officer oblige.

"As you wish," the officer replied monotonously as he stepped aside just long enough to allow the girl to pass through the air barrier the other officers were making. "Get into the ambulance. We're taking him right to hospital."

"Oh thank you, it's so kind of you!" Kagome cried, but her tone just seemed more triumphant than grateful. The busy officer, shaking his head in what seemed like disgust, pushed Kagome away gently and continued pushing the mob of people crowding around to see away.

Getting into the huge vehicle, Kagome looked uncomfortably around her. The only time she'd been in an ambulance was when she'd been in a car-crash. Her dad had died in it, and she'd been badly injured, but she'd somehow stayed alive. Now, it was kind of awkward being somewhere where she wasn't supposed to be. Why was she not allowed to ride along in a police car? It would've made her look a lot cooler, that was for sure.

Kagome was, however, broken out of her thoughts by the 'dulcet yet sharp' tones of her mobile phone ringing out the Nokia theme. Trying to ignore the glares she was receiving from the other nurses in the ambulance (it was evident that they thought she was disturbing the usual quiet of the van) Kagome flipped her flashy phone open, looked at who was calling and answered.

"Hello?...oh, hey Kikyo, I don't think you'll be able to believe this, but I'm in an ambulance right now."

"What are you talking about?" Kikyo, for once, sounded truly freaked out. "You sound perfectly fine to me, and where's InuYasha?"

Kagome let out an exasperated sigh. "In the ambulance with me. He got hit by a car, so I decided to go with him to the hospital.

"And you sound as if the moron isn't even your brother," one of the nurses in the back of the van grumbled resentfully, and Kagome pretended not to hear, but instead continued to talk on with Kikyo.

"So anyhow, which hospital are you two going to?" Kikyo asked desperately. If there was no InuYasha, the plan would be officially ruined, and some lives were going to be affected. Inwardly, Kikyo included herself.

"Erm…hold on for a moment," Kagome paused, put down the phone for a moment and looked at the startled nurses, her smile obviously a fake one. "Excuse me, but I'd like to know which hospital we're going to?" Kagome said in her best English.

"We're going to the St. George's hospital," one of the nurses said rather stiffly, and Kagome nodded her head, her fake smile slipping off as easily as if it were ice on a smooth, porcelain plate.

"St. George's hospital," Kagome whispered to Kikyo. She was whispering because she had concluded that this bunch of nurses weren't very friendly and warm-hearted.

"Oh, Koga knows that place best," Kikyo said, and Kagome heard a tone of sadness in her voice before it resumed its usual business-like expression. "We'll be there right away."

"Kikyo, you sound like a detective," Kagome laughed before remembering her supposedly sad role of being InuYasha's 'sister'. Making her laughter die away, Kagome hung up and faced the cold nurses. But before she could get settled again, one of the nurses blurted out, "Isn't Kikyo the girl who saved the famous acrobat InuYasha's life?"

"The name's Kagome, idiot!" the rest of the nurses shouted at the now cowering speaker. "We thought that you'd be able to remember that by now!"

"Erm, just in case you want to know, this injured man is InuYasha," Kagome said quietly, hoping that the nurses wouldn't suddenly attack her as fiercely as they had the first nurse.

"He is? Oh my gosh, InuYasha can't die now! And you're his sister? Oh, we're so very sorry we were cold to you all this time," one of the nurses spoke up, and Kagome could see the sincerity shining in her eyes. Even though the others still sympathised with the first nurse, Kagome could tell that they were just sympathising so that they wouldn't lose face with 'somebody extremely close to InuYasha Taisho, the famous acrobat known just about everywhere, but they shouldn't have bothered; they had lost face in Kagome's eyes anyways. Sighing wearily, Kagome smiled wearily and looked around at all the nurses gathered in the van. "It's okay…"

**In the hospital**

Miroku, Kikyo and Sango leapt up from their seats as they spotted Kagome and a few nurses carrying InuYasha's body in. Running up to Kagome, Kikyo whispered, "Is he okay?"

"They haven't told us yet, but I hope that he's okay," Kagome whispered back, a bad feeling suddenly springing up inside her as she said the last part.

Kikyo's look of worry abruptly turned into a mischievous grin. "So you're saying that YOU like InuYasha and worry about him?"

Kagome shrugged, but a blush came creeping onto her face. "I just care about him, don't you?"

It was Kikyo's turn to shrug. "Well, people say that caring is the first stage of a big relationship." Somehow, Kikyo thought, she was way beyond that stage when you looked at her and InuYasha.

Wondering if InuYasha really liked her or not, the high-school girl strode off to join her friends in the wing InuYasha was carried off into.

**In the wing (InuYasha's P.O.V.)**

Hm...I forced my weary eyelids open, and I saw myself in a strange place. That was when I remembered: the car crash, getting drunk, storming off on Kagome and the others, everything.

"Oh my god, are you alright?" a familiar and warm voice rang in the hanyou's ears. "I can't believe you got yourself drunk like that!"

"Mind your own business, wench," InuYasha sat up in his bed and glared at Kagome. "And by the way where's my cap…"

Realizing that the chance had now come, Kagome eagerly looked at the hanyou's head, and to her surprise, a hospital cap had been put over his head, covering his secret. Scowling, Kagome sat back down and glared at the nimble acrobat, who was smiling sweetly before shaking his head as if pitying the girl.

"Did you know that magazines about me have written down my secret…?" InuYasha looked seriously at Kagome, and opened his mouth in horror, he watched with a growing feeling as Kagome, grinning triumphantly, pulled a magazine of InuYasha Kikyo had bought for her a few days ago, before the 'stupid' trip was planned out. Once Kagome had skimmed through the pages, she frowned and looked up at InuYasha, who, unable to control his feeling anymore, burst into peals of laughter at the thought that his enemy would actually believe him.

"Moron, you think that I would actually let the public know about my secret? What made you think I would tell the press if I couldn't tell you? Idiot woman!" InuYasha laughed harder, and you could just about see the vein popping in Kagome's head.

Nobody had noticed night fall until Kagome checked her watch and nearly screamed and woke the whole wing up in the process. "Oh my gosh, it's 11:00pm, I can't believe I've already missed the whole flight! InuYasha Taisho, you will pay for getting drunk, getting hit by a car and delaying me for four hours!"

InuYasha grinned. At least he wouldn't see his father's spittle flying all over the place for a few more days. But he still didn't feel like hanging around the bit... (A/N: Oh, you know what I mean!) for what seemed like one more century.

It was then that Kagome excused herself to go to the bathroom, and Kikyo took the chance to lean into InuYasha.

"If I were you, I'd find some way to make Kagome stay," she whispered in his ear, and InuYasha numbly nodded, finding it hard to believe that this woman could make him do something she wanted him to do without even trying. And he didn't even know her well!

"And honey, I'll be there to help," Kikyo continued in a low voice. Had she just called him honey? Those names were supposed to be Kagome's when they finally got her and InuYasha together. But now Kikyo didn't really care.

"Right…" InuYasha took the girl's words in slowly. Had that woman called him 'honey'? But why didn't he feel grossed out like he usually did when fan girls called him that?

The acrobat was still pondering this as Kagome came back into the room and Kikyo moved quickly away.

Kagome then walked up to InuYasha, her eyes still reflecting fury. Prodding him in the chest, she snapped, "Did you know that I journeyed with you in a van to the hospital, waited for the better part of day for you to regain consciousness and put up with your behaviour for nothing? You even made me miss my plane flight back to Tokyo!" InuYasha shrivelled back in shock; nobody, apart from Sesshomaru and occasionally Mrs. Taisho, had ever treated him like this before. Putting all his remaining confidence together, the hanyou squared his shoulders up the best he could with difficulty and faced Kagome with a firm yet scary look.

"So why did you go to all that trouble for nothing?" the acrobat asked, almost certain that Kagome wouldn't be able to answer.

Kagome huffed and turned away from him. InuYasha was usually a short-tempered, snappy jerk: why was he acting all calm? This way, Kagome wouldn't even be able to admit that she cared for him…a little bit.

"Whatever, let's just break this up," Sango said for the first time since InuYasha had woken up. "InuYasha, go to sleep. Kagome I think that Kikyo and I need to talk with you."

Nodding (and rather happy that she wouldn't have to look at InuYasha anymore), Kagome followed Kikyo and Sango out of the door, leaving Koga wondering about what to do.

**Outside the wing**

"Kagome," Sango began rather sternly. "Admit it, you like InuYasha."

"What? Is this all you wanted to ask me out here?" Kagome practically exploded, if not for the fact that they were in a hospital.

"Just admit it, Kagome," Kikyo sighed impatiently, looking at her watch. "After that, we'll let you go."

Deciding that there was only one thing to do, Kagome glared at her shoulders, calmly said out an insincere sounding "I like InuYasha very much," and strode quickly to the exit of the hospital, leaving a rather surprised Kikyo and Sango behind. They didn't know that Kagome could get that sarcastic and be able to admit something at the same time. But deep down in their hearts, they knew that Kagome would one day say the words with truth.

* * *

A/N: Okay, the end was rather corny, but anyways, I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please review! Oh yes and here's a preview of the next chapter… 

"_InuYasha, what are those things on your head?" Kagome cried out in surprise and what seemed like horror, shaking her finger at the dazed hanyou._

"_Kagome, calm down, we'll tell the truth, since there's no point in hiding it anymore," Sango replied wearily. "Kagome, InuYasha's a hanyou."_

"_And you couldn't trust me all along?" Kagome yelled once again. "I hate this whole trip, everything about it! I want to go home!" _

"_Kagome, cool it! You can't worry about such things now! Don't you realize it? InuYasha's dying…" Kikyo protested desperately, shaking the hanyou feebly…_


	9. Chapter 9: Just for Him

Chapter 9: Just for Him

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.

A/N: Well, I must admit that I've gotten more reviews than usual. Thanks, and sorry that I haven't updated for so long! Well, there's nothing more to say but for you to enjoy the story…so enjoy!

_Hmph, I can't believe that Kikyo and Sango think that I like nice-chest man…wait; did I say 'nice-chest'? Oh gosh, what's WRONG with me?_ Kagome thought angrily to herself as she half stormed out into the streets and half attracted looks from other people at the same time. _I think I need a cup of coffee and some time in my bedroom to cool down and relax._

But even when Kagome gave herself a bonk on the head in a nearby coffee shop, she couldn't help thinking of InuYasha, Kikyo and Sango. Why were Sango and Kikyo thinking of making that awful idiot and her be a couple, and why did InuYasha have a thing against her? Koga seemed to be the only one who wasn't acting unusual now.

And also, every time she glanced at…well…cap-mutt-head, she could almost feel a fluttering in her stomach, so that meant that she wasn't sane anymore, either. Ever since she'd met InuYasha Taisho, her life had been turned upside-down. She didn't know what to do anymore.

Almost scared half to death by the song that suddenly burst out of the jukebox, Kagome hurriedly finished the rest of her coffee, paid the bill and left, not wanting to hear the song again. _Heavy metal,_ Kagome thought tentatively. _Yuck._

**With the others**

"Argh, why does there have to be so much standing in between Kagome and InuYasha?" Kikyo yelled. "If only life was that simple." She seemed to have forgotten that they were in a ward.

_And why couldn't Sesshomaru come along as well? I want to start getting Kikyo and him together. _Sango thought grumpily. Kikyo's mood had turned her sour, and she was now bored of this Kagome and InuYasha thing. And she hadn't even gathered a secret society for Kikyo and Sesshomaru yet.

InuYasha, on the other hand, wasn't grumpy; in fact, he was VERY grumpy. Why did that wench have to walk out on him? It wasn't like he'd done anything wrong…had Kikyo and Sango said something about him that made her feel even more disgusted at him?

Of course, a little voice in his mind objected, "What do you care about what she thinks of you? Get real; this is your arch-enemy we're talking about right now."

Agreeing, the hanyou soon fell asleep, dreaming dreams of being the governor of London and having Kagome, the bad guy, hanged, drawn and quartered. Ah, dreaming was when you were welcomed into a land where they made all things you wished were true come true (like torturing Kagome and Kikyo senseless).

Koga felt his eyelids droop as he watched InuYasha fall asleep. Even though he didn't know Kagome very well, she certainly had a positive air around her. If only InuYasha would let her show the nice side of her...and how attractive she was! Koga couldn't help but think these thoughts as he imagined him being married to Kagome. But then again, he had joined up in the plot to pair Kagome up with InuYasha, so that event could only happen in fairy tales or possibly dreams. Sighing in a defeated manner, Koga fell into a deep slumber as he heard Kikyo's shoes clatter back into the room.

**Back to InuYasha**

_Ah yes, I'm finally healed, but the nurses will never believe me, as they don't think that hanyous exist…_InuYasha thought, crackling his knuckles before feeling a sharp pain shoot through his leg. _Okay, so maybe my leg isn't…_

Ignoring the throbbing pain, the hanyou leapt out of bed and looked around the ward. Kikyo and Sango had gone out for the second time, and Koga had fallen asleep in his chair. Things were quiet enough for InuYasha to slip easily out of the hospital. Putting on a coat and jacket, InuYasha half crept half limped out the open door and put his normal cap on his head, hiding his secret. Hopefully Kagome wouldn't catch him now.

**With Kagome**

"Ah, home-" Kagome frowned as she entered hers and InuYasha's room. "Hotel sweet hotel. Gods, I miss Tokyo." A hotel room was nothing like home. Feeling a wave of homesickness wash over her, Kagome picked up the hotel telephone and dialled her home number with the ones that helped call out of the place.

'_Ring ring…'_ the phone went on ringing for what seemed like hours before Kagome got impatient and put the phone down. Maybe her family wasn't at home at the time. Checking the clock, Kagome then gulped guiltily. It was 12:00am in Tokyo. Whoops.

Unable to think of what to do, Kagome flopped down on the bed and sighed. What were Kikyo, Sango and Koga doing now? Had they decided to leave that horrid acrobat in the ward and go shopping together or something? She hoped that she wasn't missing out on anything big. Kagome's thoughts then turned to injured InuYasha with a shower cap in his hospital bed. Why did that jerk always wear a cap in public? Was there something wrong with his hair? But it was such a nice silver colour, and almost every boy would want to look as good as him.

_Half-demon,_ the word unexpectedly popped into Kagome's mind faster than a bullet shot at a person, and the girl elaborated on that idea. She was certain that hanyous and youkais did not exist, yet her grandfather had always been a superstitious person. For all she knew, InuYasha could be a hanyou, as she had read in a 'non-fiction' book written by her own grandfather that half-demons had ears on the tops of their heads and full-demons had elf-like ears.

"Oh get real, Kagome, you silly girl," Kagome muttered angrily to herself. As if there was such a thing as a hanyou or a youkai. "There's no such thing. Right now you're dwelling in a world of fairy tales. Get real." As if her mind wanted the subject to be dropped, Kagome's eyelids began to droop.

_Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this IS a world full of hanyous and youkais,_ Kagome couldn't help thinking before she fell into a deep slumber. If only she'd seen the sneaking figure lurking around in the bathroom…

**With InuYasha**

_Ho hum, I feel so pleased that I've gotten away from that hellhole, and I don't care about how people feel about the missing me, _InuYasha thought triumphantly as he leapt lightly from one skyscraper onto the next. _But the last thing I need is to have somebody spot me from up here._

Almost as if fate had suddenly turned against InuYasha, a loud helicopter whirred past as the hanyou was right in mid-air between buildings, and InuYasha on instinct plummeted down into the depths below. Trying to ignore his throbbing and still injured leg as he regained his footing on the ground below, InuYasha limped slightly along a street and into a shoe shop, intending to sit down on one of the few seats shoe stores always had. Quickly finding a seat, the acrobat gratefully sat down and nursed his injured foot, which had suddenly began throbbing after that little 'fall'.

Gods, if only that cursed helicopter hadn't come along, then he wouldn't have been in this state right now. Looking out the door, InuYasha wondered briefly where Kagome was. Had she gone shopping to get his accident off her mind? Had she gone back to the hotel to take a shower?

_Stop thinking about that (A/N: swear word right here),_ InuYasha thought, rubbing his sore foot. _She's so annoying and bossy; she doesn't even DESERVE to be thought about._

**With Koga, Kikyo and Sango**

"What! You let that injured moron escape?" Kikyo screamed for the second time at Koga. "How could you fall asleep? And what do you mean 'a light doze'? If it were a light doze, then you would have woken up to find InuYasha creeping out the door!"

"Well, according to me, InuYasha probably jumped out the window. It is open, after all," Koga mumbled.

"How could anyone POSSIBLY jump out the window? Sure, that jerk may be wounded, but he's not insane; and he isn't careless and stupid, unlike someone we ALL know," the high-school girl retorted.

"Oh, you don't know what half-demons can do," Koga snorted before realizing his mistake.

"What? Did I just hear you say 'half-demons'?" Kikyo's once angry face took on a puzzled look.

"Uh, no, o-of course n-not!" Koga wished that he were better in awkward situations.

Sango, who immediately smelt danger, watched nervously as Kikyo thought for a moment. What if she pressured Koga so much that he ended up giving away InuYasha's secret? That wouldn't be good.

After a few moments' thought, Kikyo frowned and turned to Koga.

"You're lying," the smart girl accused. "Tell me what's going on now."

Sango and Koga glanced at each other. InuYasha and Kikyo were both their friends; who should they side with?

**With InuYasha**

Ever since his 'intrepid' escape out the window, InuYasha couldn't get his rival out of his mind. Was she in the hotel room? Was she thinking about him? Was she…you get the idea.

"Stop thinking about Kagome, moron!" InuYasha yelled angrily before stopping abruptly. He was amazed that he had actually called Kagome out by her first name and called himself a moron. Wonderful, not only would he have to limp around, he would also suffer from madness. Sango would call the boys in the white coats, and before you could say 'sane', he'd be wandering around the dark, gloomy rooms of the asylum calling himself all sorts of weird names.

Finally, with a last desperate attempt to stop thinking about Kagome, InuYasha visited his hotel room. Glad that his card key was still with him, the hanyou slipped the card into the slot and waited rather patiently for the button to turn green. Flinging the door open, the acrobat reeled back in disgust. The room smelt of alcohol, smoke and…not Kagome. Why hadn't he detected the scent before? Someone had obviously captured Kagome, as InuYasha saw the high-school girl's handbag in the room. Now one thing a girl never forgot when going out was her handbag.

At first, the acrobat's first thought was, _I'll go find that wench and bring her back,_ but then his tough half simply replied with a 'No'. How many people rescued their archenemies from someone? InuYasha struggled desperately within himself, listening to both halves. Finally the 'weak' side triumphantly pointed something out that the tough half couldn't object to, and the hanyou's body walked out of the building. Time for some superman action.

**With Kikyo, Sango and Koga**

"So that's the story?" Kikyo muttered. They had been, out of pure boredom, telling each other stories for the past hour. Koga had wanted to go and look for InuYasha, but Sango had persuaded them to stay back. She was absolutely sure that Kagome would attract InuYasha and that he was safe, and they should therefore stay around in the ward and wait for the two to return. So far nothing of interest had happened, and Kikyo was losing patience. After Sango's story she was going to search for the missing hanyou.

Finally, after Sango's and Koga's laughing at the supposedly funny story, the high-school girl stood up. "Look, story-telling is getting boring. Why don't we…play hide and seek. We're all the seekers and InuYasha is the hider."

"He'll come back, so don't worry, you worry-wart!" Sango laughed, but she was immediately silenced with Kikyo's all-too-famous death glare. The high-school girl could make a sumo-wrestler cower in a corned with just one death glare. But that's a different story.

"Um, er…I mean…yeah! Let's go find InuYasha!" Sango chuckled nervously before turning to Koga. "R-right?"

"Yeah," Koga replied calmly. "Let's go." Inwardly the demon sighed. He was glad to be rid of Sango's terrible tales of her childhood. If there was an award in the Olympics with the topic 'boring', Sango would've gotten all the trophies.

**With Kagome**

"Uggh, I feel terrible…" Kagome muttered, rubbing her aching head. Her back was aching and her limbs felt as if they were being weighed down. What was going on? Opening her eyes, the girl suddenly saw a huge black creature. It had fourteen legs, was the size of a sumo wrestler and had long fangs. On each leg was a long claw, and it had a tail fifteen yards long. Was this a dream?

Kagome tried rubbing her eyes, but her arms wouldn't move. Looking down, Kagome realized that there was a small wound on each of her arms. So this whole creature thing wasn't a dream.

"Die, woman. You are not worthy of your life," the demon snarled, punching a leg claw down at the unfortunate girl's heart. Kagome, however, was lucky enough to have seen the claw just in time. She was about to lose hope for herself when she saw InuYasha burst in from nowhere and cut right through the currently offending leg. Growling with fury, the hanyou set about attacking the demon, adjusting his cap every now and then (yes he still has it on). Just before the demon was dead, however, it shot out one last leg and slashed InuYasha right across his left uninjured leg before kicking the bucket. And, how ironical, Koga, Kikyo and Sango rushed into the scene.

"Oh my gosh, InuYasha, Kagome, are you alright?" Kikyo asked, rushing over to where her injured friend lay.

Kagome cringed in pain. "Can you just help me get up? I think that demon paralysed me…"

"Demon? Nonsense, there's no such things as demons. But whatever, let's get you two to the hospital. You're both in serious need of medication."

InuYasha, who was staggering around a few feet away, heard Kikyo's statement before blurting out, "What do you mean, _no such thing as demons_? Demons and half-demons were always around even before you humans came around!"

Kagome and Kikyo froze. So demons did exist? So did that mean…

Forgetting that she was paralysed and hurt, Kagome jumped up, suddenly angry. "So you didn't trust us all along? We would never have yelled at you for what you are! I feel like going home now!"

"Kagome, calm down, we can't worry about such things now. Even though you're going to come out of this situation alive, InuYasha might not. He's dying…" Kikyo said feebly. "Please stay around and see him through this." She did not feel like going back to Tokyo with Kagome, but she didn't feel like enduring the rest of the trip without her friend.

Kagome paused for a moment to catch her breath. Should she just be a heartless, hateful person and go home, or should she stay in Hawaii with Kikyo and endure the rest of InuYasha's torture? The first option seemed almost too tempting. It would teach InuYasha a lesson.

"Come on Kagome, you can't just leave him like this!" Sango pleaded, giving Kagome her famous sad puppy-eye look. Later Kagome would learn this: what Kikyo lacked, Sango had.

Unmoved by Sango's facial expression, Kagome crossed over to the unconscious hanyou and took a look at him. Those amber-golden eyes of his stared monotonously back at the high-school girl, but they had some kind of message in them. Kagome easily received the message and looked back at her anxiously waiting friends.

"Alright, I'll stay, just for him," Kagome decided before a sudden wave of weariness washed over her. Dropping to the ground Kagome joined InuYasha in an unconscious state. Koga and Sango glanced at each other. This mess wasn't going to be a good one…

A/N: Whew! I'm sorry that I hadn't updated for so long, but I had writer's block. And yes, if you believe that this chapter was emotional crap, I don't blame you. Please review!


	10. Chapter 10: Naraku

Chapter 10: Naraku

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.

A/N: I have posted this chapter early just to say sorry for how I've had writer's block. But the rules are still the same-review!

**

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In Hospital**

"_Where's InuYasha?" Kagome wondered aloud as she wandered farther into the darkness. "I can't go without him, not when his beautiful amber-golden eyes aren't around to show me where we're going and if his hand isn't around to tell me he's here…" shivering, Kagome took one more step before stopping abruptly. She had felt something-something that did not feel very pleasant. Scared that it was a demon, the high-school girl took a step backward and made contact with something fleshy. Whipping around, Kagome came face to face with a pair of amber-golden eyes and a soothing face._

"_I'm sorry Kagome, I've got to go," was all the hanyou said before he retreated back into the shadows. _

_Blindly following her guide, Kagome cried out, "Where to? I won't be able to stand it if you just leave me here…in the darkness…"_

_As if in a flash, InuYasha turned into a mean-looking face. The new face had diabolical, glittering eyes, and his mouth was curved up in a sneer. "InuYasha's gone, woman, and there's nothing you can do about it."_

"_Nothing I can…do? No…" Kagome couldn't help dissolving into sobs. InuYasha, gone? But she had stayed…just for him. How could her choice to stay have been the wrong one? "What can I do to save him?"_

_The man handed Kagome a box. "Inside this box is my soul. If you open this box and let my soul flow out into the graveyard, then I shall come back to life, and bring your hanyou back with me. Deal?"_

"_Yes, of course, deal," Kagome hurriedly nodded. Anything for InuYasha to come back to life. _

"_Don't let me down, girl," it was the man's turn to retreat into the shadows. "You have a promise to keep, so make it."_

------------------------------_End of Dream Sequence_------------------------------------------------

Kagome woke abruptly to receive a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. Rubbing her stomach, she realized that the source of the pain was a strange-looking wooden box. It seemed to look eerie. Suddenly knowing that this box was connected to her dream, Kagome searched her memory for some kind of hint of her previous dream. Finding nothing, the girl scowled and smacked the wooden box down on the bed. It fell with a rather loud clatter. Now what?

"Kagome, you're awake!" Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome saw Kikyo rush over. "Bad news."

"What's the bad news?" Kagome's throat was suddenly dry, as if she already knew the answer.

"Oh Kagome…InuYasha's dead! That wound of his never got well! What will his father say when he…where did that box come from?" Kikyo unlatched herself from her friend's throbbing arm and stared at the box on the bed. "How'd you get it?"

Kagome's memory was suddenly jolted. "Of course! Kikyo, do you know where the nearest graveyard is? You have, after all, been in Hawaii before…"

The high-school girl shook her head. "No, not to a graveyard, but I'll ask Sango and Koga if they know where the closest graveyard is." And without further ado, Kikyo hurried away after calling out, "just wait in bed, Kagome! It's cold outside."

**With InuYasha**

"Gods, it's dark here," InuYasha stared around coldly at the cave he was in. How'd he get here in the first place? Had Sango, Koga and Kikyo decided to abandon him and dump him in this hell-hole? "D… them!" the hanyou cursed before walking rather slowly deeper into the darkness. Even though he could see perfectly well in the darkness, he preferred to think of the light as 'dark'. It was good practice for pretending to be a human.

"So I see that you've met you fate in here, too, eh?" a dark voice chuckled out, and InuYasha growled. It was the voice of his father's worst enemy, Ryuukotsusei (sorry if I made a spelling error on that one). "Of course, I would've preferred that your father were here, but maybe one of his young, cursed pups is here, ne?"

"Shut your trap about my dad and tell me where we are!" InuYasha yelled rudely, his eyes darting about everywhere.

"We, my friend, are in hell. But I do not wish to converse with you now; instead, my friend, Naraku, will come forth and entertain you with some news," the demon smiled wickedly. "Naraku, the whelp is here! You can come out and talk to him now!"

"You pulled me down here and sent that demon, didn't you? B……!" InuYasha cursed at the advancing hanyou. "I should've known that it was you all along!"

"Glad to know that you still remember your dead rival," Naraku grinned. "But soon, I will be out of here. You see, I have invaded that girl Kagome's dreams and told her to let my soul go at the closest graveyard. There, my soul will find its way to my body, and I shall be resurrected. I had promised to drag you along, but that box I gave your woman does not contain your soul…so too bad."

"How dare you…" InuYasha growled. If only his precious sword Tetsusaiga were here. "Well, I'll find a way to warn my friends of you, and that way, you'll never be able to come back to life!"

Naraku grinned, showing a full set of teeth that had not been brushed for two years. "Good luck, dog boy, because that Kagome girl and her three companions are driving to the graveyard now."

And InuYasha knew for sure that he was never going to be able to warn the others in time.

**On Earth**

"InuYasha better thank me for this," Kagome grumbled as Koga casually drove the flashy Lexus down the avenue. Looking at the box closely, the high-school girl fingered a few patterns on the wooden box and threw her head back onto the softest car head rest she'd ever rested her head on. What was InuYasha doing right now? Would that man in her dream really bring InuYasha back? If only she could see his soothing amber-golden orbs again…wait, what was she thinking about? Stupid, romantic thoughts!

"Stop complaining, Kagome. If you'd gotten to know him better and ignore his cocky attitude, he's not at all THAT bad," Sango stood up for her acrobat friend. "Anyways, we're nearly there, so you can get that box ready. Anyways, what if that weirdo in your dream doesn't really bring our hanyou back? What if he's a maniac who wants to rule the world?"

"Those are risks we'll have to take," Koga replied, never taking his eyes off the road ahead. "Anyways, Kagome, even if the mutt doesn't come back to life, there's still me!" there was a small hint of hope in the last part of the demon's sentence.

Kagome frowned slightly. "In your dreams, wolf boy. There'll be no such thing happening."

The whole car was silent for a moment. Then-

"GAAK!" I've forgotten to put my eye-liner on!" Kikyo looked at her mini-mirror, wide-eyed.

"Kikyo, that's a stupid thing to worry about right now! Why would you wear eye-liner to a graveyard anyways? You are so totally useless!" Sango finally snapped. She had lost it all.

The worried high-school girl pouted. "Chinese Taoist priests say that eye-liner stops the evil spirits or ghosts from enchanting you."

Kagome sweat-dropped. "You can only prevent that if you put your underwear on your head. You ARE rather useless, my friend."

But the future (by about ten to fifteen minutes) would prove Kagome and Sango wrong.

"Well, here we are," Koga said, nervous that Sango would make some sarcastic remark about his statement.

"Of course we're here. No, we're in a New York pub right now," the performer said sardonically, glaring at her fellow peer. "Kagome, let's open up that box. I'm raring to see InuYasha again. And Kikyo, bring InuYasha's body over here."

"Roger, Sango," Kagome gave Sango a playful wink (which annoyed Sango) and opened the box without hesitation. A dung-coloured ray of light shone from the box, and a tiny orb flickered around, showing that the man's soul was searching for its true body. Finally, an ugly, gnarled hand thrust out of the soil/grass and groped around, looking for something to hold onto. Finally, the man in Kagome's dreams appeared. He wore ragged clothes, and his black, long unkempt hair hung in one huge mess. Grinning at the three people, the man said, "Too bad, the InuYasha baka I was about to bring back to life isn't going to come. I'm not bringing him back; he's my rival. Now, if you'll grant me some time to be truly alive, for I'm still half dead-"

"What-how dare you! Go back down to hell and retrieve InuYasha's soul! If you don't, I'll…I'll force you back down there!" Kikyo threatened.

"And how will you force me back?" the man coolly looked at the fuming teenager. He wasn't cowed by someone who wasn't even his equal.

"Like this! And this!" as if in a flash, Kikyo's foot came out of nowhere. As the man was still crouched on the ground, the teenager stomped down forcefully and forced the man back into his grave with her foot. All Kagome, Sango and Koga could do was to stare in amazement as their raging friend literally stomped the unfortunate Naraku back to where he originally belonged. "AND DON'T COME BACK UNTIL YOU'VE FOUND OUR FRIEND!"

After a pause, there was an outburst of cheering and clapping. "Wow, Kikyo, you really showed that guy!" Kagome whistled and laughed. "Typical you, I love it!"

"You're not useful; you're VERY USEFUL!" Sango laughed a tingly, happy feeling in her stomach. "If only I had a camera!"

Koga grinned happily at Kikyo. So maybe she wasn't a sadistic psychotic woman. Maybe Kikyo was full of fun, too, just that she hardly showed it.

**Back in Hell**

"Back so soon?" InuYasha asked teasingly as he watched his old rival sink back down. Naraku's already tattered clothes were covered in muddy footprints. He had really deserved what he asked for. InuYasha could guess what had happened.

"Which girl stomped you back into your grave?" the hanyou asked. "The one with her hair in a ponytail (Sango), the one who was calm most of the time (supposedly Kikyo) or the one who was really feisty and angry (supposedly Kagome)?"

"The stupid, feisty one," Naraku replied before covering his mouth. He wasn't supposed to say such things to InuYasha. Then the ungrateful idiot would have something to laugh about.

_I always knew Kagome had it in her,_ InuYasha couldn't help falling into fits of laughter, and Naraku could only watch with rising anger and embarrassment. Finally, when he couldn't take the unstoppable peals of laughter, Naraku said, "Fine, I will take you up with me, dog boy, but don't think that we'll never see each other again." And beckoning for the hanyou to follow him, the evil Naraku flew back to earth again.

**Up on Earth**

For the second time that day, Kagome and her friends watched the 'great' Naraku rise up from his grave, but this time bringing InuYasha's soul (a red orb, as the hanyou had done so much laughing) with him. Relieved that the man had brought InuYasha back this time, Kikyo held out the supposedly dead acrobat's body, and Naraku inserted the soul into its body's mouth. When InuYasha had woken up and seen Naraku, he immediately growled.

"Remember, half-breed that we'll meet again-with me the Shikon Jewel and the ruler of the world!" Naraku smirked before flying off, using his poisonous powers to propel him into the sky.

When Naraku had gone, the hanyou felt his muscles relax. Grinning, he turned to all four of his friends. "Good on you Kagome that you forced him back down with your foot. I hate Naraku's guts out."

"Actually, it wasn't me, it was Kikyo," Kagome said coolly, and giggled.

InuYasha stared in shock at Kikyo, who was busy filing her nails. The quiet and calm one-stomping his greatest enemy back into his grave? Unbelievable!

"So anyways, who IS this Naraku guy? Have you found out his ambitions?" Sango queried.

"Yeah, but there's no time to tell you now. I just want a nice shower back in the hotel room and some time to rest. The way you were jolting my body in the car was enough to make one barf," InuYasha said, feeling his new leg. Gosh, it was good to be back in a body without a broken leg.

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A/N: Another chapter done! Yay! (punches the air in triumph) Please review, I've been slaving away for so hard at these two chapters! 


	11. Chapter 11: The Girl

Chapter 11: The Girl

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.

A/N: Thanks for those reviews, they really made me happy! Now, for a brief shout-out:

1.) InuYasha Obsession: Thanks for all the support you've given me through all this!  
2.) Foxyfoxx1: You're a great supporter; I hope that you'll appreciate whatever I write from now on!

3.) Cold Kikyo: Ha, I like the pen name, thanks for your review! It made a big difference to me!

Now, on with the story…

**

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With the gang**

"Come on, InuYasha, spill! Who's this Naraku guy?" Kagome asked, curious. She had forgotten what the hanyou was like in her eyes before.

"Well, he used to-and still is-my greatest rival," InuYasha grumped, folding his arms across his chest. The ordeal in hell had made the hanyou feel grumpier than ever.

"And you're angry at us because we resurrected him, right?" Kikyo guessed, a smirk forming on her lips. She felt like being cheeky after she'd stomped Naraku back into his grave.

The hanyou did not reply. Instead, he chose to twiddle his thumbs and try to hold in signs of his short temper. If Kikyo could stomp some powerful maniac back into hell, then he would have to treat her with respect from now on.

"Well anyways, are you hungry?" Koga asked from the drivers' seat. "Because I sure am." He didn't like talking about rivals, as he secretly knew that InuYasha's second greatest rival was him. The reason why the strong hanyou wasn't skinning him right now was because his father had said otherwise he would be returning to school and has his lunch there for a week. Koga smiled at the memory, remembering InuYasha's face slowly turn a nice shade of angry red.

"Hey, mutt, how about we go to Taco Bell for lunch? I bet you'll eat loads, seeing that your belly is massive and needs to be filled to the brim," InuYasha scoffed. Koga's smile turned into a sigh; of course, Mr. Taisho had never said anything about InuYasha bad-mouthing him. Swivelling slightly around to face the acrobat the best he could, Koga retorted, "If I'm fat, then you're obese ten times more, insolent dog boy."

"Alright, guys, that's enough!" Kagome intervened quickly before things could get worse. "Who cares if someone's hungry?" rubbing her 'hungry' stomach, Kagome lied, "I'm hungry, too. Let's go to Taco Bell, then." After that sentence the high-school girl glared at InuYasha as if to say, "Don't. Say. A. Thing."

And the hanyou shut his open mouth right away.

**With Naraku**

"And you'll haul your sorry a.. out of here until I'm finished carrying out my plans?" Naraku smirked as he was a man grovelling at my feet.

"Yes sir."

"And you'll be my servant forever and ever?"

"Yes sir."

"Very good, but don't get up. Go to that sofa over there and curl up into a ball in front of it."

Plopping his feet down on the poor human's back, Naraku sighed and relaxed. This useless human's house was luxurious. In a matter of two hours, Naraku had managed to get a whole wardrobe of clothes from a clothing store, enough food for a month from a food store and a house from a man. Without having to pay anything.

"Now, all I need is more servants now…" Naraku trailed off, ignoring his new servant's cries of pain. "But where? Do you know, fool?"

The man shook his head before adding, "Please call me Mukaga."

What a wrong thing to say.

Picking the screaming Mukaga up by his collar, Naraku yelled, "Don't order me around, fool!" Flexing his new fingers, Naraku threw the unfortunate man against the wall. "No supper for you tonight."

Naraku was about to continue his assault on the half dead human when the main door burst open, and a woman walked in. She had a beautiful complexion, with brown eyes, black hair and red smooth lips. She opened her mouth to say something when she saw the state of the room, and her words transformed into a high-pitched scream.

"Shut up, wench," Naraku managed to raise his voice above her screaming without screaming himself. "You will become my servant, and if you dare disobey me, then you shall become this." (Naraku pointed briefly at the crumpled body on the floor). "Understand?"

The girl nodded meekly as she clutched her handbag tighter than ever. Who was this guy? Why did he want their house, of all places? There were more expensive and bigger houses than this one in Hawaii!

The beautiful girl's thoughts were then interrupted by the evil man's voice. "What is your name, girl?"

Squeaking, the woman said, "Rin," before dropping to the ground and sobbing uncontrollably.

Naraku sighed impatiently. Humans. So emotional and useless sometimes.

**With InuYasha and co. (after lunch at Taco Bell)**

"Taco Bell, taco bell, nothing better than a taco bell…" sang Koga. Being full had really cheered him up.

InuYasha stared at his secret rival in a deadly manner. "You're full of it again, aren't you, mutton-head?"

Koga stared for a moment, unable to process the jibe InuYasha had sent him due to happy emotions. Then, when the youkai had realized the meanness of it all…

"Stop poking fun at me, you shameful little puppy! I'm a more superior person to you, and I always will be, no matter what!"

Silence reigned in the car before Kagome, sensing that InuYasha would immediately blow up, hurriedly said, "Hey, guys, why don't we-we…uh…see who this Naraku really is and what he wants to do!"

Although this suggestion cheered InuYasha up a great deal, it did not have any effect on Koga. "There's no point-we're not going to meet up with him anyways!" the wolf youkai retorted, shaking his head in an agitated manner.

"Don't you remember what Naraku said to InuYasha? Don't think that this is the last time we'll meet…"

"Well, he was saying that to InuYasha, not us!"

"So? If InuYasha is going to see him again, then we'll end up seeing him too, right? We've still got…what…three weeks together? It's unlikely that Naraku's not going to see him again after we're all back in Tokyo."

"And I might just stick to your side, dog boy," Kagome said, poking InuYasha playfully in the chest and receiving an annoyed grunt. "So, Koga, that's two against one, and majority always rules. Too bad so sad."

"Hey, don't I get a say in this?" Sango protested teasingly.

"No, miss, you're not under eighteen, so you cannot vote, this is golden rule number one of my democracy rules: no one over eighteen must vote," Kikyo replied serenely, and everyone (excluding InuYasha and Koga) laughed.

"Whatever, but count me out, I'm not doing anything to help you guys," Koga said, folding his arms across his chest. "I feel like leaving you guys for Tokyo."

Kagome suddenly had an idea. Crawling over to Koga, she whispered 'seductively' into his ear, "If you do help us, then I'll arrange for you to have pina coladas whenever you want on a private beach with hot chicks."

"Okay!" It was Koga's turn to be cheered up. He didn't seem to realize Kagome's slightly sarcastic tone and the disgust in her voice when she said, "hot chicks". Kagome sighed half in relief and half disgustedly. At least Koga wasn't going to be whining for now. "But if you don't do as you promised, then I'll personally strangle InuYasha and make you feel guilty for your life."

Kagome faced Koga, the smile replaced by a scowl. "I think it's time I brought a gun with me wherever I go, just to keep you in order."

InuYasha scratched his chin, snickering at Koga's loss for words. "So, Kagome, you're better than I thought."

And hearing that, Kikyo felt a strange, painful tweak in her heart.

**With Naraku**

Rin had been working for Naraku for three hours non-stop now. She was mainly used as a footstool, and the girl was having trouble keeping her tears in. Naraku, on the other hand, was gloating and capturing every other family member of Rin's as they came home, one by one. Rin's father had already been murdered due to stubbornness, and her mother looked close to death now, her eyes emotionlessly looking at her new boss.

**Rin's P.O.V**

When Naraku 'dismissed' us for the night and told us to 'go back home', I grabbed mother's hand and rushed her out into the streets, not daring to look back. How could a person be that cruel?

Looking at mother, I realized that her eyes were closed and the look of death was upon her face. Frantically shaking my mother awake, I stared at her eyes, squinting, trying to see who was awakening her.

"Rin, I'm so sorry," was all mother whispered. "I wasn't strong enough to take that monster's torture. I'm dying-love you, always," before my mother's head rolled backwards, her face carrying a rather peaceful look.

"No, mom, you can't just leave me…" I cried out loud, not caring about the looks other people were giving me. "You can't just leave me like this…" I bent my head low, crying and whimpering with sadness, sobbing myself to sleep.

_You walk away,_

_You don't hear me say…_

A shadow appeared all of a sudden, staring at the two forms.

_Please, oh please, don't go,_

_Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight…_

The man felt a strange twitch in his heart. The two women looked so peaceful and pitiful together.

_It's hard to let it go…_

Feeling the older-looking woman's forehead, the man realized that she was dead, but there was life in her daughter. Picking her up, the man left with her.

…_Regardless of warnings, the future doesn't scare me at all…_

He would have a lot to explain when he returned.

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A/N: Wow, more emotional crap! The italics on the last bit is a song called 'Simple and Clean' by Utada Hikaru. I changed a line because it wouldn't fit. Please review! 


	12. Chapter 12: The First Signs of Trouble

Chapter 12: The First Signs of Trouble

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha. Gods, how many times do I have to say it?

A/N: Okay, I haven't really got much to say except enjoy this chapter. I hope that you won't find it too emotional or whatever. Now, I wonder who this man who rescued Rin is? Let's find out in this chapter. Oh, and by the way, this whole chapter is InuYasha's diary (yes, he keeps a diary in this fanfic, lol).

**

* * *

InuYasha's POV (diary page of the day)**

Well, we were all gathered around my laptop searching the websites for information on…THAT guy (I hate saying his name) when I decided to go to the toilet. Unfortunately, Koga was hogging Kagome's and my one, so I went to the toilet in a nearby restaurant.

So I did my stuff, and when I was coming out and in my hotel room corridor when I see a huge figure dart to the corner. My curiosity piqued, I cautiously step towards the corner. When I get there, however, some guy jumps out and gives me the scare of my life-my cursed brother, Sesshomaru!

"What the hell are you doing here?" I curse my brother, using some foul language that I don't think I should put in you just in case someone manages to open you. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Father dismissed me off to Hawaii. The holidays have started, as you should know," Sesshomaru replies coolly and truthfully, whipping his hands behind his back. I somehow suspected that he was hiding something from me. So I turn to the offensive.

"C'mon, bro, you've got to let me see your hands out in front of you," I say rather sweetly, pretending to go for my brother's hidden hands. "So that I'm reassured that you're relaxed and happy. Mother wouldn't like me to be ignoring this kind of body language."

That's when I see my -brother start to sweat a little. It's been a long time since he's actually sweated out of nervousness. The last time I saw him do that was what-ten years ago?

Finally, Sesshomaru responds by holding his hands out. I hear a faint thud, and I quickly whip around my big bro to see what he was hiding before he can stop me. It's a human girl, with long, black tresses and ragged clothing. She looks pretty, but I'm too shocked to notice. My human-condescending older brother, carrying around a human servant girl? Unbelievable!

"Why Sesshomaru, I never thought that you'd carry around a servant girl!" I smirked evilly. I was giving my own brother a taste of his own medicine.

"And why do you even bother hanging around with two lowly wenches?" Sesshomaru snapped back agitatedly. "Hypocrite!"

"And I think that applies to you too, brother," I replied coolly, enjoying my brother's expression. You didn't get to see this every day.

That was when Kagome (who's not such a bitchy person anymore) came out of the room and looked at us both. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Oh, this is Sesshomaru, just in case you still don't know," I said, deciding to be nice and not mention his girl. "Anything on Naraku?"

"No, not yet, but Koga has a sneaking suspicion that Naraku might have deleted all his profiles on the computer. We're checking all the recycle bins right now," Kagome replied. "I doubt that we'll find anything."

"Naraku? That name's familiar…oh, him," Sesshomaru sighed. "You idiots brought him back to life, I'm guessing?"

That's when Kagome snapped. This brother was just as bad as his younger brother. "If we hadn't brought him back to life, then you wouldn't have a younger brother." That little statement left Sesshomaru staring at Kagome. Boy, she's good at smart-mouthing sometimes!

But of course, my brother's a smart alec. So I said, just in case he decided to blow Kagome's fuse, "Whatever, let's go inside. The others might have some news for us."

Dear diary, they did, but the news was not good, for when Kagome, Sesshomaru (and his girl) and I entered the room, Kikyo met us with shaking hands and a pale face.

"Guys, bad news," was all the hot chick said, staring at all of us wildly.

"Yeah yeah, get on with it," I said carelessly. The bad news must be something like 'we couldn't find something on Naraku', I thought, but I was wrong.

"The computer news said that there was a murder…no, two…at Mr. Tomoko's house," Sango said, rather weary all of a sudden. "Three guesses on who it is?"

Koga carried Kikyo's story on. "They say that they've found two inhabitants of the house, but the third one is unfound. The murderer left the house right before the police arrived, but it was obvious that he'd done the murdering.

"Naraku, that b……" I growled, and I felt Sesshomaru nod behind me. "He's done the killing for sure. He was probably looking for servants, clothes and a good house. The unlucky inhabitants were probably made his slaves."

That was when Sango noticed Sesshomaru hiding something. Whipping around his back, she sighted the limp but alive girl's body, carried carefully in his hands. A scream immediately brought everybody to attention.

"Were you actually the killer?" Kikyo asked suddenly. The news of the murders and Sango's scream had slightly unhinged her.

"Stupid woman! Why would I bring a body with me if I were a cold-blooded killer?" Sesshomaru retorted coldly, laying the body on the ground. "This girl is the only survivor. I'm willing to say that she comes from the murdered family, as she was lying next to her dead mother."

Her face paling rapidly, Kagome immediately pushed us all outside and piled us all (including the girl) into my personal limo before getting in herself. Instructing the shocked driver on where to go (the closest hospital around) Kagome settled down.

"What the f… was that for?" I snapped at the high-school girl. "Did you have to do that?" but inside, I admired Kagome for her sudden burst of strength.

"This girl is barely alive, don't you realize?" Kagome practically hollered, and my ears went flat with sudden fear. "We might not even be in time to save her!"

"Ho hum," Sesshomaru looked at his perfectly manicured fingernails. I could see that he admired Kagome as well for taming me…TAMING ME! Nobody manages to tame the great InuYasha! Pretending to ignore all that was going around me at the moment, I crossed my arms and silently listened to everyone talking and occasionally laughing.

**At the hospital**

"Alright, we'll take her into a ward," the receptionist said as Sesshomaru carried Rin's body in bridal style (he had not allowed anybody to touch it, as they were 'all too clumsy'). "Name please?"

"We don't know, but she might be from the murdered family," Sango said, before quickly adding, "but never mind that. Give her some medication, quick!"

As the girl was placed on the bed, Sesshomaru stared at her for a long time. I personally suspect that he's beginning to like her, but whatever. As the nurses told us all to leave for a while, Koga suddenly rushed in (he was parking the car). "Guys, a message, from Naraku!" my rival yelled rather quietly, waving a piece of paper about.

"What? The moronic idiot put his name on it?" Kagome queried bluntly, getting up from the couch we were sharing. "That's so stupid!" Everybody laughed. That was when I noticed Kikyo glancing for a long time at me. Shaking away the shiver going through me, I stopped laughing, grabbed the letter from Koga and began to read it. Everyone crowded around me, trying to read it silently. Not wanting to be squished, I began to read the letter out aloud-

"Inu-baka and morons (I added a little growl there, and Sesshomaru flexed his claws threateningly),

My plans have worked out perfectly, and I have heard from Kagura that you are sheltering that wench servant girl of mine, Rin. I have also heard that your b…… of a brother Sesshomaru is in Hawaii now. If you give me Rin back, I shall not bring harm to any of you. But we will still meet again, but next time I will be dominating the whole world, and you will be my footstools (at this point I immediately remembered that Naraku had been obsessed with footstools, even in his old life). I will meet you all on the bridge on Ronaldo Road. It's the only road there, so you can't miss it. Meet me there with Rin at 12:00am tonight.

Naraku

Crumpling the piece of paper, I stared at everybody else, and almost all of them had a shocked expression on their faces (guess who didn't have a shocked expression, dear diary).

"The girl's name is Rin…" Sango whispered. "So she must be from the murdered family, then. The news said that the missing girl's name was Rin."

"Well, we're going to bring Naraku his 'servant'," Kagome said. "Except that we're giving him a nasty surprise wrapped in cloth."

"Which is…?" I queried, and grinning broadly, Kagome leaned forward and told us all her plan.

So now we're all going to meet Naraku at the bridge with 'Rin'. I'm kind of glad that Kagome thought that plan up. I'm beginning to kind of like that girl. Kikyo, well, maybe she likes me, but it's probably a crush, so I shouldn't worry. Sesshomaru and Kikyo…hm…they seem like a good pair, but Sesshomaru, I think, has a crush on Rin.

Dear diary, I'm probably turning too teenager and babyish with all untold rumours, but whatever. It's been a long day, so goodnight, dear diary.

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A/N: This chapter was shorter than usual, but that's because…who wants to write a diary that's five pages long for one day? (this chapter is nearly five pages, lol.) Oh yes, just in case you were wondering where Rin was, she's still in the hospital being taken care of. The nurses had said she would live, I forgot to mention that, but now you know. Please review! 


	13. Chapter 13: Kagome Outwitted

Chapter 13: Kagome Outwitted

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha

A/N: Okay, sorry I had that breakdown. I should've known that flamers wouldn't read my fanfic…yeah. So anyways, enjoy the chapter! Oh yes, Vanni, I believe that you were threatening me with your review…lol. Would you really want that?

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Koga looked out the window, rather tired. They had been in Sesshomaru's interesting (and personal) limo. He and his friends (excluding Sesshomaru) would not have been sitting here if Kikyo hadn't stepped in and negotiated with the cold youkai. So here he was, at twelve am, in a comfy limousine, about to fall asleep. Kikyo and Sango were in the same condition. Only Kagome, who was going over her scheme over and over again, and the two dog brothers, who just weren't tired, weren't sleeping. There was too much going on to be asleep and relaxed. 

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Sesshomaru announced in his cold tone, "We're here. Get your lazy selves out of this limo of mine and stop dirtying my brand new limousine. I don't like humans dirtying my possessions." Glancing at the scowling hanyou, Sesshomaru stepped gracefully out of the car and 'floated' to the back, where Sango was rubbing her eyes and Kikyo was glaring at Sesshomaru.

"Well, if you don't like that, you should just have shooed us out. Why, were you too weak to do so? Or are you just bitter about me and my PERFECT negotiation skills?" Kikyo said just as coolly, despite her furious expression. Getting just as gracefully out of the limo, the high school girl gently removed Rin's body (which was wrapped in a purple cloth) off Kagome's lap and stood there, waiting for everybody else to get ready. Nobody could miss the happier look on InuYasha's face as he stuck his tongue out at his older brother before glancing at Kagome, still chewing her lip inside the car.

"Oi, wench, are you getting out or not?" the acrobat laughed, and he promptly received a stomp on the toe from Kagome, who was suddenly in front of him. "Let's go," was all the teenager said, before she moved away towards her roaring girl friends.

Naraku was already at the end of Ronaldo Road as the gang was arriving.

"Well, look who showed up," Naraku smirked, flexing his tapered fingers. Craning his neck slightly to look around Naraku, Koga observed that Naraku had two girls behind him. Both wore the old fashioned kimono and obi from the Feudal Era of Japan. The shorter one had whitish hair, and was carrying a mirror. She looked like a miserable child with a mirror. Suppressing a snicker, Koga's gaze moved onto the taller one, who had black hair in a bun and wielded a fan. Her red pupils bored a hole into the wolf demon's blue orbs, and sent a shiver down Koga's spine. Returning his gaze to their master, Koga began to listen for signs on when Naraku would ask for Rin.

The wolf demon was not a minute too late. "May I have Rin now? No harm will come to the world if you hand her over to me," Naraku said, now examining his fingers. Stepping in between Kikyo, Rin's body and Naraku, Koga announced loudly, "Actually, we just decided that you'd have to answer a few questions of ours, and you must answer every single one with the answer 'yes'."

"Yes, yes, whatever," Naraku answered lazily, still eyeing the body hungrily as if it were actually a piece of meat. Hiding a glare, Kikyo began to ask Naraku the questions Kagome had written on a piece of paper. The high school girl knew that her friend had given her this part because she was a good negotiator and that if anybody messed up, their scheme would be in vain. Taking over the conversation, Kikyo began to speak.

"Will you promise not to harm the world?"

"Yes."

Kikyo knew that Naraku was lying, from the way she observed him say the words carelessly, but she pressed on, for she knew that if she said something about it, the evil, heartless idiot would just forget about his promise altogether.

"Do you promise to let everybody you've terrorized go after we give you Rin's body?"

"Maybe, but I'll say yes, seeing that your friend wanted me to answer everything with the word 'yes' in every sentence."

Koga growled slightly, not noticing the child with the mirror holding shifting and aiming the mirror in Kagome's direction. Sesshomaru, who was feeling bored, simply looked around, searching for an escape route in case his precious limousine was crushed. This Naraku, the youkai felt, was not someone to be trusted. Sesshomaru just did not know why his brother had had to consort with this beast in the first place. Didn't he remember that that b…… had hurt InuYasha both mentally and physically? Not that he cared…

A sudden thud on the ground caught everyone's attention, and Naraku's laughter filled the air as everyone saw Kagome on the ground, looking rather lifeless. Everyone saw a line connecting to the child's mirror. Everyone heard Kikyo screaming obscene things at Naraku and the two girls behind him.

"You promised not to harm the world!"

"Yes, but you didn't ask me to not harm the people living inside it. Kanna, have you finished with that girl's soul yet?"

"Too…full…" InuYasha heard the tiny child murmur softly. Sango stared as Naraku's pupils widened slightly, then knew what they had to do. Grab their helpless friends and make a dash for it. Although it would probably be committing suicide, they had to at least try something.

"Run!" Sango roared to her remaining friends. "Grab Kagome, Rin, and run!"

Just as Sango began to dash for the escape route Sesshomaru had secretly pointed out, a huge whirlwind rushed by, slashing a little cut on the girl's left arm. Knowing somehow that the whirlwind was from Naraku's taller henchman (or rather, henchwoman), Sesshomaru ran lightly and reached the car door first, using his natural demonic speed Opening both limousine doors, the youkai waited for his peers to arrive, dodging a few weak but vicious whirlwinds from time to time. Kikyo and Koga were the first ones to arrive.

"Why were you waiting for us? Knowing you, we'd thought that you'd jump in and save your own coward skin. I've never seen anybody run as fast before, Kikyo panted, smirking at her jibe.

"I was simply waiting here for you, not wanting you to get lost. It's hard for a woman to not be able to spot someone as good-looking as me," Sesshomaru shot back, pushing the high-school girl in. Not wanting to be involved in the previous spat, Koga hurriedly entered the limousine just as the other people arrived. When everybody was ready to drive away from the chaos scene, however, InuYasha thought of something, and he refused to close the door.

"Close the door, you moron, or we'll never be able to get out of here in time!" Koga yelled furiously at his companion, strapping his seatbelt on.

"Oh yeah, we might escape, but that's going to sacrifice Kagome's life! Her life force will be stuck outside this cursed limousine (glares from Sesshomaru) and then she'll die! Didn't you see that thin blue line?" the hanyou argued. Everybody froze, unsure of what to do, when Kagome suddenly opened her eyes. The noises outside died away and the blue line connecting Kagome to the mirror all rushed back to its original owner's body. The sound of squealing tires and evil laughter could be heard.

"Looks like Naraku told that creepy pupil-less henchwoman of his to forget about taking Kagome's soul," Sango said. "I heard the girl mutter something, but I didn't hear it."

"She just said that Kagome's soul couldn't fit into the mirror. Probably because of that big butt of hers," InuYasha laughed, and Kagome, who was awake and lying in the back seat, sat up and slapped the back of InuYasha's head. Ignoring the glares the hanyou sent her and the others' cries of 'you're awake!' and 'Kagome, are you alright?', the high-school girl proceeded to throw herself into the middle row and sit in between Sango and Koga.

"I'm fine, no need to worry about me," Kagome said absent-mindedly, twisting a lock of her raven black hair on her finger. "InuYasha, did you know that you actually have really nice hair? It's better than Sesshomaru's…"

That was when the youkai snapped up. Instead of the furious reply that Kagome was expecting, Sesshomaru shoved InuYasha into the driver's seat, grabbed Koga by the shoulders and cried out, "Koga, tell me, does my HAIR look bad? Do I have any split ends?"

Kikyo and Sango roared, while InuYasha tried very hard to drive without laughing and crashing the car. Koga, who was looking rather happy that some guy was actually having hair problems too, answered with a 'yes you do, but I recommend not using a hair dryer as much…', and soon, the two demons were talking happily about hair products like two neighbouring women at a marketplace. It was hard for the teen girls not to laugh at the way InuYasha was pricking his slightly visible ears at his two elders, trying to catch what they were saying, for it sounded as if he were trying to find out which hair products were good to use. Kagome strongly felt that this was something she could tell to her other friends back in Tokyo.

That was when it hit Kagome. Her plan hadn't worked. Naraku had probably known better and taken those two women, whoever they were, with him in case there was some physical fighting done. For the first time in two weeks, Kagome had been outwitted by somebody, and this made her mad. She had been outwitted by somebody and nearly gotten killed in the process! That Naraku guy didn't have to go that far! But what did he want with her soul…

_That doesn't matter,_ Kagome's conscience told her. _The only thing that matters is that you get even with Naraku, and you can't accept no for an answer._ Nodding and receiving weird looks from Kikyo and Sango, Kagome responded to her conscience with a happy 'of course'. Kagome didn't feel like answering that question yet, and she wanted to avoid it as much as possible. InuYasha, who detected part of what Kagome was thinking about, accused loudly, "Kagome, it's YOUR fault that the plan didn't work. It's your plan, and therefore, I shall blame you for dragging us into all of this." The hanyou didn't realize that he had said Kagome's name in full, and continued driving with a retarded smirk on his face as everybody, excluding the two youkai, stared at the hanyou with astounded expressions.

It took InuYasha five minutes to realize what he'd said and why the girls were staring at him as if he were a crazed lunatic. Taking the defensive, the hanyou began to protest.

"What's wrong with saying that wench's name? I mean, you idiots say her name and yet none of you think the other is a freak."

"It's not that," Kikyo said, deciding to be mischievous. "It's just that we think that you have a crush on our dear friend Kagome."

"In your dreams, woman! I would never have a crush on that good-for nothing b…. (Kagome gasps and attempts to slap the driving hanyou), and if I did, then it would be one I'd regret having for the rest of my life!" the hanyou retorted rudely, and at that moment, the careless acrobat made a big mistake, one that he would surely regret for the rest of his life. InuYasha turned around, abandoning the steering wheel, to taunt Kagome a little more. He didn't see the red light coming his way, or the car that just happened to be passing by. At least he was with people who were still watching the front.

"InuYasha, stop the car! Watch out!" Sango and Kagome screamed in unison...

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A/N: Another cliffhanger, oh yeah. Once again, I apologize for my sudden breakdown and I'd like to thank you for all that support you gave me to keep me going. Please review! 


	14. Chapter 14: Recovering

Chapter 14: Recovering

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.

A/N: Wow, a lot of reviews! Thanks a lot! Just so that others know, I replaced my author's note with chapter 13. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

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"InuYasha, watch out!" Kagome and Sango cried out in unison. 

Unfortunately, however, it was too late. As the two cars came crashing together, everyone was thrown out of their seats, save for the ones wearing seatbelts (excluding InuYasha). Of course, this led to a stunned and bleeding hanyou flying out the car window and crashing into the other car. Everyone watching was screaming and yelling, and someone could be heard calling for the police.

**Kagome's POV during the car crash**

I had already known that it was too late to stop the whole accident from happening. Jerking violently in my seat, I watched in horror as InuYasha went flying out the window. Glass and body met, and I screamed as glass that hadn't hit InuYasha came flying onwards, directed at us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sesshomaru and Koga break a hole through the roof of the limousine and fly upwards, cursing and swearing at InuYasha. As I was about to shout out my anger at them, two glass shards pierced me in the arm and blood flowed freely from the wound. My world was fading.

"Don't die, InuYasha, don't die…" I pleaded, before giving in to the welcoming, dark world of unconsciousness…

**Nobody's POV**

Kagome slowly came to. What had happened? Oh yes, the car crash…InuYasha flying out the window…Kagome would have laughed out loud at that if only the situation hadn't been so serious.

"Kagome, are you awake? Is your arm okay?" the high school girl heard Kikyo's voice calling. Opening her eyes, Kagome groggily lifted her left hand to rub her eyes. For some reason, her other arm was too heavy to be lifted. That was when she remembered that her arm had been pierced by two glass shards. Straining her head to look down, the girl saw her arm bandaged and looked at Sango, who had a crease in her forehead.

"Were the wounds serious?"

"Well, the lower shard left a gaping gash in your arm, so yeah, it was serious, that's why you're arm's all bandaged now. Miraculously enough, Kikyo and I managed to get out of the whole ordeal with only a few cuts and bruises," Sango replied, accepting an ice pack that a random nurse had given her and placing it on a bruise Kagome had only just seen.

"How long have I been out?"

"It's just the three days since the crash. We're surprised you even came to that fast. Our little pup whelp, who wasn't as fortunate as you were, is lying in the other bed right now," Kikyo piped in, and Kagome snorted.

Kagome then looked on the bed to the right, and saw Sesshomaru and Koga standing over an unconscious InuYasha's bed, talking, Kagome assumed, about hair products. "Interesting to see that Sesshomaru's got a new gossip friend," Kagome said seriously, and Sango chuckled darkly, and then lowered her chuckle as the youkai mentioned turned around and gave the teenage girls a dark glare.

"Did you see Koga and Sesshomaru before you passed out? I mean, they broke a hole and escaped through the roof, then appeared again when you guys were being carted off to hospital! Those are real cowards!" Kikyo complained loudly in an irritated voice, and this time both Koga and Sesshomaru sent a cold, icy glare towards Kikyo before going back to talking about whatever they were talking about.

That was when Kagome began to think about what had happened before the car crash. And that was also when she remembered: Where was Rin?

"Sango, where's Rin?" Kagome asked slowly, suddenly afraid to ask. What if the girl had been killed in the car crash? Or was she still around, just barely alive?

Judging by the look in the two girls' eyes, Kagome lowered her head, stunned. How could Rin have just died like that? But then again, the girl didn't have much going for her in life. Trying to shrug the tragedy off, Kagome struggled to sit up properly in bed, only to sink back down onto her pillows again. _At least InuYasha isn't around to see me like this, or he'd laugh at me,_ Kagome thought, before smacking her forehead gently with her good hand. What had made that cocky hanyou come into her mind?

That was when Kagome began to think she was dreaming, for she could hear InuYasha's voice yelling mockingly, "You fell, haha! You're so weak it's just phenomenal!" Looking at Kikyo's facial expression, Kagome could tell that InuYasha had come round, too, and she scowled. Sesshomaru simply kept on his calm, collected expression as he watched the two exchanging fierce glares and death-looks at each other. Finally, Sango broke the ice.

"Well…heh…it's nice to see that you're both…er…awake," the performer said rather awkwardly. "InuYasha…er…nice to know that you're wounds are already healing."

The hanyou's reply was to flex his muscles proudly. "Of course, I'll always be able to heal faster than you weak humans can ever do." Kagome growled threateningly, placing her good hand on the cup of water beside her bed. Kikyo hurriedly moved it farther away, afraid that her friend would end up hurling the object at the acrobat. InuYasha, completely oblivious to Kagome's reaction, turned to his calm and collected brother.

"And at least I'm allowed to have more emotions that you stupid youkai people."

"Shut your yap, you insolent puppy. Don't forget that you're actually just a lowly half-breed for us humans and youkai to bully. That's your only purpose in this world," Koga had just voiced what InuYasha had been trying so hard not to think about. Kagome was now confused about how she should feel about InuYasha, whilst Sango's eyes just widened in shock. The others in the ward simply stared and began muttering. The only ones who did not give a reaction were Kikyo and Sesshomaru, who were too busy trying to outdo each other with calm, collected, cool death glares. Kikyo seemed to be winning so far.

InuYasha, on the other hand, had his mouth hanging open. For once, his brain was devoid of any smart remarks he might once have had. For once, the hanyou wished that someone would help him out of this jibe Koga had sent. Lucky for him, Kagome was there to the rescue for once in his entire life.

"Koga, just stop annoying InuYasha. I'm getting sick and tired of hearing you idiots squabble every time I'm around," Kagome said wearily. At least that would have to do for now. Shooting Kagome a secret grateful glance, the hanyou turned over and went to sleep, thinking, _Now, what if that wench weren't around to help…, _while Koga stormed off to pull Sesshomaru from his staring contest with Kikyo, angry that Kagome had sided with the hanyou.

As soon as a steaming wolf youkai had departed from the ward, Sango rushed up, a smirk evident on her pretty features. "Ha, I told you that you'd fall for InuYasha, Kagome!" the performer said triumphantly, nudging her friend in as if to say 'ha ha!'.

"It was nothing," Kagome retorted, choosing her words carefully. "And I don't like him." That seemed safe enough, but even Sango somehow managed to say something else. The high-school girl moaned in annoyance when she heard the dreaded words.

"You do know, my friend, that saying you don't like someone is one of the first steps to liking that person."

Kikyo, who had walked up just behind Sango, gave her accused friend and knowing and playful wink.

"Open up, Kags, just admit you like him," then deciding to dim the red blush on Kagome's face, Kikyo made up, "I actually think that InuYasha's brother is quite hot." Inwardly, the high-school girl retched at the thought. Sesshomaru, good-looking? You just had to be kidding.

At that point, Kagome found a little flaw in what her friend had said, something that made her vulnerable. "You like Sesshomaru? You never told me that…" Kagome grinned widely, looking at Sango. "Have you ever been told, Sango?"

Before the relieved-that-she-wasn't-being-picked-on performer could reply, the three gossipers were interrupted by InuYasha's rough, impatient voice. "Will you just shut up? I'm trying to get some sleep here, in case you didn't notice. Oh right, girls ARE too stupid to notice."

"You heard everything we said?" Kagome asked, too stunned to retort at InuYasha's rude jibe.

"Of course, the way you idiots were ranting on. I always knew I was good-looking," was the hanyou's muffled reply, and Kagome turned red. Sesshomaru, who was actually standing by the doorway, looked down, his expression hidden by his long silver hair. Usually, the youkai could sense a lie, but when that weak human girl had claimed that she'd liked him, he could sense no lie. _Are my senses weakening? It she is really telling the truth…personally, I don't care much for her…A little sparring is in order. Time to cut down a few trees,_ the youkai thought, his lip curling. He could always pretend that those trees were his hated brother.

**With Koga**

The wolf youkai was pacing up and down in an isolated isle in a newspaper shop, not knowing that the reason was because the stuff was all boring celebrities talk magazines and books discouraging smoking, which nobody really needed. But the youkai was mutter-thinking.

"How can Kagome side with that ungrateful no-good of a dirty half-breed? I mean, I just revealed his secret to her, she'll surely not like him…" Koga muttered angrily. "But why does she still side with him? Is it because she just thinks he's better looking, or is it the money-"

At that point, Koga snapped his fingers and stopped thinking. That had to be it. Kagome simply liked InuYasha because of his money. Licking his lips in a satisfied way, Koga marched happily out the door, ready to face the gang again. If he'd been less proud about his decision, the wolf youkai would probably have seen the shadows lurking behind the shop door, ones that only youkai could see if they tried.

Continuing on his jolly way out the door, Koga practically skipped down the street, his mind devising all sorts of different ways to get Kagome on his side and humiliate InuYasha if front of everybody. It was a pity, Koga realized, that InuYasha's half-breed secret had been revealed, but nobody had bothered berating him for it. That was when it came to Koga: Yes, the idea was perfect. Nothing could possibly go wrong. By remembering that Kagome was soft-hearted and kind, Koga could pretend the idiot hanyou had hit him real hard. InuYasha, of course, would get all heated up and start yelling obscene things at him, and Kagome would step in to save Koga from all the abuse. The plan had a 90 chance of working. But before Koga could rush all the way back, someone placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Looks like I'm back. Let's go, pal."

And a protesting wolf youkai was dragged away through the suddenly deserted street.

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A/N: Whew, sorry I took a long time updating! Please review! 


	15. Chapter 15: Naraku Strikes Again

Chapter 15: Naraku Strikes Again

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.

A/N: Thanks for all those reviews! I'd like to do a shout-out right now:

InuYasha Obsession: Thanks for sticking by my side all the time. I'm really grateful for that, and I love your reviews!

Cold Kikyo: Interesting name and I love your reviews!

Kagome67895: Thanks for your review, every review makes all the difference in the world to me!

Youkaigirl64: Lol, how can I forget your reviews?

Inuyasharox112192: Thanks for your review, I like your username!

There are millions more I'd love to thank, but you probably wouldn't even be able to get to the story! I'll step aside and let you read on, then!

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"Hey! Where are you dragging me to? Show your face, coward!" Koga yelled, feeling rather stupid that he was letting someone drag him down a street in broad daylight. He, Koga the wolf youkai, being dragged by some weak human? Impossible!

Turning sharply around, Koga grabbed his surprised kidnapper's arm and was about to crack it when he saw, and recognized, the face. Promptly letting go of the man's arm, he looked the person up and down critically, as if trying to see if he looked good.

"Man, Miroku, what are you doing here?" Koga exclaimed, grabbing his friend by the shoulders. "How are you?"

Miroku spat into a nearby rubbish bin, sounding a bit annoyed. "What do you think I'm doing here? You were supposed to meet me at the airport, remember?"

"Oh, oops, sorry," Koga had forgotten all about his abandoned friend ever since Naraku's letter had arrived in the hospital. "We were too busy doing some…business." He thought it better if InuYasha or Kagome informed Miroku on what was going on, simply because he was too lazy, and he knew that Naraku was InuYasha's worst rival, apart from him.

"Like…?" Miroku raised an eyebrow. "Do enlighten me."

"Never mind, old pal. Where are we?" Koga looked around him. Yes, Miroku had managed to drag him into a dark, deserted alley, as he'd expected. Miroku, despite his chuckling, said sarcastically, "We're in a bright, picnic place, where people always walk their dogs and children always play Frisbee there."

"As a matter of fact, this special alleyway is a place where dark, evil magic and demons lurk," a voice only Koga knew laughed softly, and a confused Miroku whipped around to face Naraku, armed with his two henchwomen again.

"W-who are you?" the non-youkai man stammered, trying unsuccessfully to conceal his growing fear and dread. The taller henchwoman fanned herself carelessly, staring up at the sky in a bored manner. The child, however, stared monotonously at the pair, and Koga was reminded briefly of Sesshomaru and his hair products. His attention, however, returned to Naraku as the diabolical man laughed evilly, sending chills down Miroku's and Koga's spines.

"What do you want?" Miroku asked, when he had recovered his voice. "And who are you?"

"I obviously need to work on my reputation. I believe that we met not a long while ago," Naraku sighed, before turning to Koga. "Did you know that it was me who caused the car crash?"

Koga clenched his fists in anger. "Oh really? Do enlighten me with all the details. You do know that…"

"You like InuYasha's wench?" Naraku smirked. "Of course I do. I saw that right from the start, it's easy to see that."

"Don't change the topic, get to the point!" Koga half yelled, not wanting anybody else to get involved in their little mess.

"No, like in alchemy, there is always a thing called 'exact trade', and since the object of my desire is not with you, I shall not tell you. Maybe right before your death hour, but for now, ciao," laughing maniacally, Naraku whispered something to his taller henchwoman before leaving with his other apprentice. Sensing that a fight was about to begin, Koga stepped in front of Miroku, brandishing his fists. It was going to be a tough fight to the death. Miroku, on the other hand, was wondering how Naraku knew about alchemy, and this question seemed to help him gather his courage to not be afraid of the advancing woman youkai.

**With InuYasha and co.**

InuYasha happily flexed his muscles, testing each arm. Boy, it was good to be out of that stinky, over-populated hospital and back in action where nearly everything was possible.

"Feeling great again, Inu?" Kagome teased, knowing somehow that the arrogant acrobat hated being called 'Inu'.

To her surprise, the hanyou ignored the jibe. "Never been better," he remarked. "Better than even you weak humans." Sango and Kikyo tried to stop Kagome from hurting the acrobat with her one good arm.

"So, um…what did you do with Rin?" Kikyo asked Sesshomaru, who was staring ahead, all signs of his hair products forgotten. "You gave her a proper burial, right?"

"Seeing that she had no remaining family members, I gave her a pauper's grave, the cheapest kind," Sesshomaru said. "And be grateful, because I hired my own assistants to do all the digging and stuff." Kikyo's face turned red with anger. Letting go of Kagome's shoulder, she stomped up to the calm youkai.

"You can't send a dead person off like that! That's so unfair! Rin should actually deserve a proper burial, seeing that she was so poor and unfortunate."

For some reason, the high-school girl's words stung the Sesshomaru's otherwise cold heart. What bizarre thing was going on? Even the great Sesshomaru was baffled by this query. After walking a few more paces, the youkai turned around and fixed Kikyo with a stare. "Alright, I'll rebury her, but that's all I'll be doing for you after that."

Sesshomaru left everyone else behind, wondering how on earth Kikyo had persuaded him to do such a thing. That was when a cry of help could be heard in a distant little alleyway, and the whole gang, excluding Sesshomaru, ran forward, wondering whether they could save the 'damsels in distress' in time.

**With Koga and Miroku**

Koga was in critical condition and was in need of medication badly. Miroku, who was by now cowering in the corner like a helpless puppy, was picturing what his death would look like. The woman, who had introduced herself as Kagura, was advancing on him now, ignoring the bleeding wolf youkai sprawled on the ground. She wasn't in as bad a shape as Koga, but she did need help: below her left eye, Koga had made a deep gash there, and her left leg was bleeding, and one arm was broken. Her once beautiful kimono was in shreds. Growling as inhumanly as possible, Kagura strode up to Miroku, a grimace/smirk gracing her features.

"I didn't think it would be that hard defeating your wolf guardian, but he obviously surprised me. So, as a conclusion, killing you first would be just as surprisingly pleasant and sweet. But first, you've got to answer a few questions of mine, ones that involve my master and you," Kagura said.

"Shut up, woman, I don't even know you. I've never met you until now," Miroku said. Keeping this woman talking and prolonging his death would be nice. Maybe someone would come to his rescue, if he was lucky. And if he wasn't? Well, he'd just have to step aside and accept his death, wouldn't he?

"Fine, I'll answer your questions," Miroku said, sitting up in what looked to Kagura like a defeated prisoner's position, pretending his hands were in cuffs behind his back and all. When Miroku clapped his hands together, however, he felt something sharp that pierced the tip of his finger: a dagger. Hiding his pain, the brave teenager stared at Kagura, his eyes boring into hers.

"First of all, do you have any idea why Naraku mentioned alchemy? You seem to know a thing or two about it, from what I see in your eyes," Kagura said. Taken aback by this random question, Miroku answered truthfully, "No, I have no idea how to use alchemy. I've just read about it in little fairy tales I read to children in Tokyo during the times of charity." Suppressing a laugh at Kagura's strange stare, Miroku positioned himself better, hiding his precious dagger. The teenager patiently waited for the right opportunity to strike at the youkai.

"Fine, if that's what you say, but I don't really believe you. Second-"

"If you don't believe me, then stop asking these rotten, random questions-"

The fan Kagura had been using as a weapon all through the battle was brought up to Miroku's neck in an instant. "And if that's what you really want, I can kill you now, if you want. Second, how did InuYasha and Naraku become rivals? It's always been something master never told me."

Miroku shrugged, unable to think of a good lie. "I don't know," was all he said, before calmly facing an angry-looking youkai.

"You know what? You're nothing but a useless piece of crap," Kagura said, poking her captive in the chest. "You're not good to keep around at all. I think it's time to kill you now-" that was when Miroku had a go at stabbing Kagura. The dagger, however, only managed to pierce her abdomen. Coughing blood up, the youkai stared at Miroku, hatred burning in her eyes.

"You lied, you b……! You DO know alchemy! You little liar…" that was, to Miroku's relief, when InuYasha and co. jumped in, brandishing whatever they had that appeared to look harmful and threatening (yes, even Sango was holding her sharp earring).

"Let our friends go!" Kagome yelled. She would have thrust something out at Kagura as a warning, but finding nothing good on her, she grabbed InuYasha's long clawed hand and thrust it out, making Kikyo and Sango back off slowly, trying not to snicker. Kagura, wide eyed, stared at the whole gang, her mind working quickly. There was no way she could take the others on after that alchemy-user had stabbed her. Pulling a tiny feather out of her mangled hair, the demon blew on it once, and the feather grew bigger, enough for three people to sit on all at once. Jumping on the feather, Kagura waved a mocking goodbye to the gang as best she could, trying to suppress the blood trying to escape from her mouth. Hopefully Naraku would heal her from her injuries.

When the wind witch had disappeared from sight, InuYasha looked down at an unconscious Koga and laughed, which was a rather silly thing to do, for Kagome was there to keep him in check. Smacking the hanyou on the head, the high-school girl crouched by Koga's side and looked him over.

"We should get him to the hospital immediately," she said. "Miroku, you're just sitting there, looking as good as new. After we get this guy sorted out and you've calmed down, could you PLEASE tell us all that has happened?"

As the teenage boy stood up and to do his best to make sure Koga was alright, he couldn't help wondering about two things now: why Kagome took his sudden presence so calmly, and why Kagura and Naraku kept droning on about alchemy. Finally, looking at the stained dagger in his head, Miroku hid it in his coat and ignored the blood staining the insides of his jacket and soaking his shirt, still pondering on the mysteries he already had at hand.

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A/N: Another short chapter, and for some reason, I feel like doing something for once, and it might happen again: AN OMAKE! I hope that this makes you laugh. This is behind the scenes, and they could be what really happened in the story.

_As the feather grew larger and larger, Kagura hopped onto it, and was about to make a jibe at InuYasha when the feather suddenly turned-into a deflated air platform! As Kagura began sinking began sinking back to the ground, and Miroku cackled evilly. As he rushed over to the shocked Kagura, his features suddenly turned into-Naraku! _

"_I'm back, my little honey-glazed munchkins," the evil man said smoothly. "And now it's time for me to sing a lullaby to you and for your older sister to do the hula!"_

_At that moment, Kagura shot up in her makeshift bed of straw, sweating all over. What a terrible nightmare!_

"_Oh, why do they HAVE to put this dream of mine in?" Kagura moaned, and the rest of the gang laughed._

"_Because we want everyone to know that you're actually a funny person, DARLING!"_

That's the omake for now, see you! Please review!


	16. Chapter 16: Taken

Chapter 16: Taken

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Do you think I should more omakes from now on, or are they so lame that I should stop them? It's your choice on whether you want them to continue or not. Enjoy the chapter, and by the way, the first bit is in Naraku's hideout place. Also, I'll try and add a bit of fluff.

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Kagura groaned as another wave of pain went through her. What had she done wrong to deserve this? If she was so 'bad', 'disobedient' and 'weak', then why didn't Naraku send Kanna out instead? Of course, the answer lay with her master, who was not interested in talking; only shouting obscene curses at his servant.

"Why couldn't you defeat those useless b……?" Naraku hollered, filling the whole room with his voice and the cracking of his whip.

"I-they-they were prepared for battle, and I-" Kagura was still searching for an excuse that would get her out of this beating, but of course, as she knew, Naraku never took excuses, regardless of how good they were.

"So are you implying that my own flesh is too weak to defeat two HUMANS? Are you implying that you want me to melt you back down into my flesh and kill you forever?"

"No," Kagura flinched as her red, bleeding back was hit again.

"THEN WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME?"

That tone of voice meant that Naraku was on the verge of losing patience. Blinking her red, pupil-less eyes, Kagura stayed silent, pretending to ponder. This method was the only way of getting Naraku to cool down and let her live.

This time, however, Naraku was not in one of his best moods. Normally he would have forgiven the one angering him right now, but two targets like Koga and that other man were too good to let go. He felt like killing his own flesh right now, but something held him back. Letting his whip drop to the floor, Naraku stared at Kagura, with what seemed like hatred burning in his eyes.

"I'll let you off this last time, but if you fail again, I shall kill you," Naraku warned Kagura, who had picked herself weakly off the floor and was nursing her tender wounds. "Get out of my sight now, before I change my mind."

Knowing when enough was enough, Kagura hurried out of the room, deciding to find her older sister.

She was sick of everything. She was tired of the forever shouting voice of her master, the pitiful cries of her younger sister, the walls and room she seemed to be forever imprisoned in, the pursue for her master's worst enemies, but though her mind was constantly telling her this, she could not feel anything at all. She was the master of having no emotions, feeling nothing when she was beaten or hurt in any way at all.

Kanna sat, staring at the wall, for there was no window to look out to. All her room consisted of were two beds, one for herself and Kagura, a tiny cupboard for putting valuable objects in, and a tatami (spelling error?) mat on the floor for sitting on. Although Naraku was the one who planned the layout of each room in this dreadful hell-hole, Kanna didn't see why he had to be so old-fashioned and keep Japanese antiques in this place. She noticed her younger sister staggering in, wounded badly, both from her punishment and from her previous battle, and emotionlessly rose to help her sit down on the tatami mat.

"Stupid Naraku, always so unfair," Kagura winced as Kanna produced a tiny bottle of ointment from the cupboard that she had stolen from Naraku's unending supply of medicines and rubbed some on Kagura's back, helping her youkai sister to heal easier.

"You must not hate master so openly, sister, or he will kill you; then where will I be?" Kanna said softly.

"Easy for you to say, you've got no feeling whatsoever," Kagura said, not knowing how much it hurt her sister. "Naraku made you like that."

"At least I try to sympathize," Kanna said.

"Why doesn't he send you instead of me, anyways? If I'm so WEAK," Kagura snorted. "I wish master were kinder about his punishments."

"Maybe because I can only capture people's souls, but not kill them," the elder sister replied softly, closing the ointment jar and placing it back in its hiding place.

"But all Naraku wanted to do was to capture them, not kill them," Kagura objected, fanning herself. "Boy, it's good to have somebody to confide in. Without you, big sis, I don't know what I'd do."

Kanna felt her insides warm slightly when Kagura said that, and wondered if this was what it was like to feel good. Naraku then came inside, and Kagura quickly put her kimono back on and the two sisters looked up at their master.

"Kagura and Kanna, maybe there is still something you can do for me right now…" Naraku muttered softly.

**With InuYasha**

"You're sure you're okay?" Kagome did not trust Koga any more than she did InuYasha. The pair were just too shifty to trust.

"Of course I am, don't worry about me," Koga smiled reassuringly.

Miroku snorted, resisting the urge to grope Sango, who was nearby. "Last time we trusted you to take care of yourself you nearly got yourself killed."

"That was a one time thing, and don't open your big fat mouth; you couldn't protect yourself either," Koga retorted. "And what was that blood-stained dagger doing inside your jacket, pray tell? Were you trying to murder me in broad daylight or something?"

"You wish," Miroku laughed bitterly. "I don't get how I conjured it up." And with that, Miroku began to tell everyone about what had happened. Everyone was staring at him as if he were an alien when he had finished.

"Miroku-what did Kagura say again?" Sango breathed.

"Something like 'Do you know anything about alchemy'?" Miroku repeated wearily.

"That must mean he thinks that you know something about alchemy," Kagome concluded. "But why is he suddenly interested in alchemy? Surely InuYasha's life is greater than something related to alchemy." InuYasha glared at the high-school girl, slightly offended. Sesshomaru yawned in a bored manner and stared out the window. From all the books on alchemy he had read, he had a hunch that he knew what Naraku was after. But of course, the youkai would not stoop down to help a bunch of clueless 'lowly human beings' in their quest for knowledge.

"I would think that the answer was obvious," Kikyo said. "Assuming Naraku's a baddie, and he suddenly takes interest in alchemy that must mean that there's some kind of powerful artefact involved in the whole thing. In other words, it looks like Naraku's found himself something that'll help him become the most powerful being on earth, or something stupid like that."

Koga pondered for a moment. "I wonder, if I had such power…"

"Stop fantasizing, you dreamer," Kagome said grimly. "We're going to have to think of a way to stop Naraku from getting what he wants from alchemy, if that's the case…"

"Right, SHERLOCK, you're so smart," InuYasha said sarcastically, and Kagome glared at the acrobat. "As smart as a brick wall, I'd say."

Kagome finally lost all patience with InuYasha. She hurled herself onto him in anger, before a random thought popped into her head. Her anger dissipated.

_He's got a nice, muscular chest, and he smells good…_

"STOP!" Kagome screamed at herself out loud, and some patients in the ward, including Miroku, glared at her, angry at the girl for disturbing their much-needed 'beauty sleep'. But all Kagome could think about was how idiotically random she was, and about how wonderful InuYasha smelt.

"I told you-I'm just a natural," she heard InuYasha mutter, and she could almost see him smiling. Cursing in anger, Kagome picked herself off the polished floor, trying to hide her blush, and excused herself for a quick toilet break.

**With Kagome**

"What is WRONG with me?" Kagome muttered as she stared at herself in the mirror above the sink. "Is the reason why I'm like this because…" Kagome couldn't think of the perfect reason.

For once, Kagome paid close attention to her face. Soft brown eyes, slightly curly black hair, and a pimple-free face stared back at her. What did those soft brown orbs hold? This was a weird question that Kagome sometimes asked herself when she was feeling down.

Kagome saw the usual features: determination, a hard-working person who was like a daredevil, but something else she'd never seen before also lingered, something she'd sometimes seen in her other friends' eyes: the hints of a slight crush. Kagome winced, knowing only too well who it could be. Not wanting to face the truth, the high-school girl rushed out of the bathroom, only to bump into the last person she wanted to see.

"You just realized?" InuYasha smirked, grinning at Kagome's blushing face. "I'm actually surprised that you caught on so quickly."

That was when Kagome had remembered something Sango had said when some boy in grade 5 had annoyed her badly: pretend that you can't hear the guy, pretend as if he isn't even there. Eventually, he'll stop bugging you.

Kagome's crush half, however, contradicted: Sango hadn't even had a crush on the boy; she did. Luckily for her, however, the impatient hanyou had considered her behaviour silent treatment. Sounding slightly hurt, the acrobat said, "You're no fun to tease. I'm going to bug someone else now," before leaving. Even more confused than ever about her thoughts, Kagome sat down right in the middle of the corridor (and gaining a few glares) and pondered about everything that had happened: how her opinion about InuYasha had changed, how she had suddenly become involved in Naraku's business, how she had become chief planner, how Miroku was suddenly related to alchemy, what Naraku wanted from alchemy.

That was when the high-school girl heard a shuffling from a dark corner. Before she could react, however, she could hear the same, dreaded whisper she'd heard when she first encountered Naraku.

"Give me…your soul."

Kagome felt her body go rigid, and as she fell to the ground, lifeless, she thought, _InuYasha, please help me,_ before passing out.

And two nurses, one holding a mirror, hurried away out of the hospital.

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A/N: Cliffy! MUAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm sorry I didn't update for so long, and you'll have to wait for a week before I can update again, because I'm off on a school trip. Please review…reviews make me happy! 


	17. Chapter 17: The Search: Part 1

Chapter 17: The Search: Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.

A/N: Thanks for all those reviews! There's not really anything to say; just…enjoy!

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"What's taking her so long?" Kikyo moaned impatiently, tapping her watch. "I really HAVE to get out of this damned place! You said you just saw her, InuYasha!"

"And I did! Maybe she went back into the bathroom because she thought afterwards because she was coming down with another attack of diarrhoea," the hanyou shrugged his shoulders carelessly, as if Kagome's sudden disappearance was nothing.

"For an hour? Sheesh, I would have thought she'd fallen asleep in the toilet by now!"

"I'll go check up on her, that's what we should've done ages ago," Sango said grimly, before InuYasha could voice the come-back he had prepared. "Unfortunately, this IDIOT of an acrobat held us up," Sango couldn't help feeling happy that she'd sided for Kagome, but she did feel uncomfortable with the glares InuYasha was giving her and she turned around and headed in the direction of the girls' bathroom.

Once she was out of InuYasha's sight, Sango sighed, trying to relieve herself of the building tension, but couldn't. Kagome couldn't have just disappeared like that; could she? Or were InuYasha and Kikyo really right: the girl had either fallen asleep or had a serious case of diarrhoea and was now lying on the floor moaning in pain? Hoping that those reasons were one of the answers, Sango hurried on to the bathroom. Reaching the door, Sango turned the handle and opened the bathroom; nothing. There was nothing that suggested that Kagome had been harmed in any way, but there was also no sign of Kagome. Shock surging through her body, Sango strode out of the bathroom, her panic building. If Kagome wasn't in the bathroom, where could she be? (A/N: No surprises there, right, people?)

**With Kagome**

"So you're finally awake," Kagome heard a voice talking, and she opened her eyes mechanically. She felt like talking, or stretching, or even sitting up to drink something, but for once, she had inherited a muddled, thoughtless mind upon waking from a deep slumber. All she could make out was what the man in a baboon cape sitting beside her bed was saying. He looked familiar, but she couldn't think now. All she could think about was to obey this man.

"Do you recognize me?" the strange but familiar man asked, a thin, cruel smile flitting across his features. Scrutinizing the man one last time, Kagome shook her head mutely, resigned.

"Good, but I must be the only one you can see, or obey, from this day on," the man added, and Kagome's vision of everything else suddenly faded, and only the man could be seen now. "And you must refer to me as 'Lord Naraku'."

"Yes, Lord Naraku," Kagome could not think of anything else to say. But for some reason, there was a strange feeling in her heart as she said the words, and it wouldn't go away.

"Very good, and your name is Kirale, you must know that," the baboon-caped man laughed an evil sound that sent chills running down Kagome's spine.

"Kirale," murmured the girl, her brain adjusting to her new name. "Kirale…"

"That's your name. Kanna, let the wench sleep for now," Naraku said. "We have quite a bit to do."

And with that, Kagome, newly christened Kirale, fell back onto the hard wooden floor, sleeping a dreamless sleep.

**With InuYasha and co.**

"Gods, do we HAVE to find that stupid girl?" InuYasha complained loudly as his new car whizzed away from the hospital. "I mean, she can go and get herself away from the mess she's got herself in." For once, Sesshomaru agreed with his no-good idiot of a half-brother. At least that strange wench Kikyo was more useful. Hell, she could even help him glare down the whole of Tokyo if she wanted…the youkai shook his head slightly. Ever since he had been a child, he had sworn never to accept or ask for help from any human being alive, and that was a promise. But at least one peep at what she was doing now…Kikyo was busy applying a bit of lip balm on her lips now. The youkai nearly rolled his eyes. When would women ever learn that make-up made them uglier, not prettier?

"So anyways, where do you suggest Kagome is?" Kikyo asked, closing her lip balm and inserting it into her bag. "Sango? Miroku? Anybody? I'm out of ideas."

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes at Kikyo's stupidity. "Where do you think? She's at Naraku's. You can really be dumb at times. You really thought she'd fallen asleep in the lavatory, didn't you?" InuYasha snorted with laughter whilst Kiyo stared coolly at the youkai. "Actually, I was hoping that you'd be saying that she'd put you in a septic tank." It was Sango's and Miroku's turn to laugh out loud at the humiliated youkai master. What human DARED to contradict the great Sesshomaru Taisho? _I'll need to be more careful around this woman,_ Sesshomaru thought, gritting his teeth silently. _Rip her slowly limb from limb, that's the way…_

**Kirale's POV (A/N: From now on, I will be treating Kirale and Kagome as two different people, but the other will be the main character's 'conscience'.)**

"Kirale…" I was still thinking about this word when a sudden voice popped into her head, one that was surprisingly clear and understandable. "Wake up from this stupor! Get away from this hellhole of a castle! Now!" Confused, my attention turned to the voice. It sounded exactly like my own.

"Come on-you've got to get out of here! I mean…Naraku's controlling us right now! We've got to get away!"

"Obey…baboon-caped man…" I whispered faintly, and I could feel myself shifting in my sleep.

"No, you mustn't! The…er…baboon-caped man will make you do all sorts of unpleasant things! Things that-that are inhumane! You've got to start believing me instead, please! Now get up off this bed, run out of this castle, and try and find a boy with doggy-like ears! Now!"

I was starting to believe the strange voice, but part of me was still doubtful. "Will the baboon-caped man punish me for doing what you say?"

"Um…of course not! You're a fast runner; I just know it! You'll be, like, ten miles away from the guy before he can even say 'shoot'! I mean, do you want to sleep now? Answer me!"

"How do you know?" I was still doubtful that I could actually outrun my master. If that baboon-caped man was my master, then he must be better in everything as opposed to his servant, right?

"I just know it because you've got the guts and the spirit, and without that you wouldn't be able to run fast, right?" the voice told me, sounding exasperated. "Now, you answer my question."

I thought about my answer. I wanted to run, jump, leap, shout, anything but lie here, but somehow my body wouldn't really let me. "I would like to," I frowned in my heart. "But my body won't allow me to."

"That's a binding spell your master put on you," the voice answered hurriedly. "That shows how evil your master is, to not trust you so much as to put a spell on you in your sleep so that you won't run away."

"Then what's the point of me trying to get out of here?" I retorted. "Like you said yourself, there's a spell on me. I'd like to get away, but sorry, I can't. Now, stupid voice, go away."

**With InuYasha and the others**

"Fortune-telling, two coins per person! Scrying spells three coins for each one!" Sango grunted as she listened to the noisy hustle-and-bustle of the market.

"Ooh, fortune-telling! Come on, Sango, everybody, let's get our fortunes told!" Kikyo cried out rather happily, and Sango nudged her in the ribs.

"Kikyo! We're looking for your wench of a friend, remember?" InuYasha cried out, and Kikyo quickly covered his mouth before he could say any more.

"No, we're not going to do any fortunes, just some buying some scrying stuff," the high-school girl hissed. "You know, find out where Naraku's hideout is."

"With those rip-off scrying spells? Not a chance," Koga said. "You should know better-all that fortune-telling business is good for nothing."

"Well, it's worth a try," Sango said uncertainly. She wasn't sure about all this scrying stuff, but siding with your friend was the way to go about things, right?

"See? Sango approves, so let's stop wasting time out here and go into the fortune shop," Kikyo said cheerfully, and Sesshomaru silently rolled his eyes. _Only to waste money,_ he thought as he followed the rest of the gang past the advertising man into the shop. He was expecting the shop to be cheery, bright and gay. _Just what I hate._

On the contrary, inside the shop it was dank and gloomy. The shop was filled with shelves and shelves of merchandise, and in a corner of the room was a table, and gathered around were a group of customers. Sitting on a stool was an old woman, quietly meditating in front of a crystal ball, the only light in the whole shop. Making her way to the shelves silently, Kikyo began to leaf through random spell books, making faces at certain ones and chuckling quietly to herself every now and then. Finally, the high-school girl extracted a book from a shelf and made her way back to the waiting gang.

"I've got the book," she whispered excitedly. "The very one that mentions scrying out for castles, hideouts, unknown places…and other people, and it only costs $10!" Kikyo waved the thick book around as she talked, and a few customers on their way out stared at her uncertainly.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's pay the fortune teller and leave," Sango said. The quietness of the room was unnerving her. Nodding, Kikyo made her way across from the shelves to the fortune-teller, who appeared to be murmuring her last customer's future.

When that last customer had gone at last, the old lady turned to the gang. "I can see the positive energy swirling around you all…you shall defeat…an evil, negative man…" the old lady murmured, touching her forehead. Hope suddenly filled everyone. Maybe this woman really was a real fortune-teller and not a phoney.

"Well…can I buy this book please?" Kikyo asked.

"No fortune-telling for you? This shop is famous for its fortune-telling," the old lady smiled kindly. "But it's alright if you don't want your future told. That'll be ten dollars, if you please." The fortune-teller held out a wrinkled hand, expectantly waiting for the money. That was when something in Kikyo snapped.

"Actually, I'll pay you 2 more coins if you tell me when I'll die?" Kikyo said, eyeing the woman nervously. Groaning inwardly, Sesshomaru turned away. When would that superstitious wench ever learn?

"Money first, then future…" the old lady accepted two more coins before concentrating on her crystal ball, murmuring random words. After a minute, the fortune-teller opened her eyes and turned to Kikyo. "I'm sorry to say, but very soon," the old lady confessed. "Now, I've got other customers. Goodbye…"

As they left the shop, Sango then asked Kikyo, "Do you believe in what the woman really said about you dying soon?"

Kikyo shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not."

That was when Koga added in words that made Kikyo doubt. "You do know that if you believe her, that thing might really happen to you? I remember once, when I was holding a glass of water, my mind joked about me going to drop that glass of water, and then it really happened. That kind of thing might happen to you, too, Kikyo, so be careful."

"Thanks…I guess," Kikyo said, not sure whether this piece of advice really was helpful or not.

**Kagome's POV**

_Great, now I'm stuck in a body that doesn't recognize me. I'm two people now!_ I thought bitterly as I sat in the tiny box that now imprisoned me. _And it's obvious who my captor is._ _I don't even know who I am anymore._ Burying my head in my knees, I tried to devise a plan to convince the soul controlling my body to help me escape, but the words would not come. Finally, I had a strategy.

"Oh well, what's your name?" it was best if I made friends with this other soul and gained her trust. "Mine's Kagome."

There was a long pause before Kagome's answer came, "I'm actually not sure, but master said that my name was Kirale."

_So Naraku decided to give me a new name, _Kagome thought with a grimace. "Okay…so how do you feel about him?"

"Well, I don't really feel anything towards him, but I do feel that I have to serve him to repay him for bringing me back to life."

"What did you do before he actually…um…brought you back to life?" Kagome flinched slightly as she said the words. Naraku couldn't have been kind enough to just resurrect someone just for the sake of it.

"I don't really remember much…just that I was forever floating…in a world of white and blue mixed together. And then my soul felt a dragging…and then I was dragged here," the soul named Kirale replied.

"Okay," I replied, before sinking deep down into my thoughts. Before I had been put back into my body, I had been floating in a world of white and blue as well. Kirale must've been dragged from that weird girl's mirror into my body, and Naraku was going to use her soul and my body together to create destruction on everybody.

_But at least I've got a strategy,_ Kagome thought, smiling weakly in spite of her situation. _And hopefully that'll get me out of trouble._

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A/N: Another chapter cleared! Since most of my words are probably about moaning and all, I won't say anything but this: Please review! 


	18. Chapter 18: The Search: Part 2

Chapter 18: The Search Part II

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.

A/N: Okay, I'm sorry about my breakdown in my new fanfic, but it's not true. I was just venting my feelings out of everything in sight. Hope you enjoy my fanfic!

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With InuYasha and the others**

"This scrying book had better work," Kikyo grumbled as she read the book in the faint light Miroku had provided for her in Sesshomaru's dark car. Along with the book there had also been the tools she needed to find such things. Now the girl sat squinting at the instructions page.

"Um, wench, you have to hold the mirror this way," InuYasha grabbed the tiny, oval shaped mirror in Kikyo's hand and rotated it slightly. "And you have to hold the needle like this."

"How would YOU know? I'm reading the book," Kikyo objected, taking the objects away from the hanyou.

"Well, I'm reading the book as well!" came InuYasha's retort. "You think I'd actually speak without thinking?"

"Actually, yes," Kikyo's voice had become excited. "I've found Naraku's castle. It's to the north of this place, behind the first mountain we see when heading north."

"Um…okay," Sango said. "Isn't that the Haina-Opua Mountain?"

"Right," Kikyo absent-mindedly agreed. "And, according to the map, there's even a car road leading there! Let's go!"

And, feeling full of hope, the group sped off towards the mountain.

**With Kirale**

Everything was quiet. My master and his other strange woman servant had gone away, and all that could be heard was my silent breathing as I slept and thought at the same time. I wanted to get away from this spell that voice had mentioned to me, but I didn't know how. Besides, what if I didn't have enough will-power?

Apparently to Kagome, I was an intruder. I had been forced into Kagome's body and been kept in there, and the original owner had been pushed to the back of her brain. My master had put a binding spell on me so as to prevent me from running away, which was exactly what I felt like doing now. But I probably wasn't fast enough.

"And if you are?" Kagome had come back again. I gritted my teeth, telling myself to be patient. I suppose my companion was a form of entertainment.

"Well then, I'd get away, but since I don't even know my abilities, I can't judge. If I tried to get away now, only to find that I'm too slow, then I'd receive a punishment for nothing!" I reasoned out with my second self.

"Come on, I know for a fact that your master won't kill you. He NEEDS you. Why do you think he chose your soul from the mirror in the first place?" Kagome was trying again, and I knew, somehow, that she was right. My master must have reasons for doing what he did.

"You're sure about this, right?" I asked Kagome.

"Of course. Think positive."

"Okay, but if we get caught, you're the one to blame," I told my friend, hoping for the first time that I could get away from this hellhole.

"First of all, however, test your arms and legs. Find out if anything's pulling you down in any way," Kagome instructed.

Doing so, I realized that my hands were bound tightly by strong ropes, but strangely enough, my legs were free. This I quickly reported to my new instructor, who I could practically see nod and shift in a seat I had created for her in my mind.

"Okay...do you suppose you can move your arms as far as to reach down to your legs and untie your bonds…without Kagura seeing you?"

We both knew that, although our bodyguard was gone, Kagura was still watching us through her supposed sister's mirror. Kagome had told me all about it.

"Um…that's very unlikely," I felt like laughing. That idea was so obvious even a half-blind fool could tell that I was up to something.

"Oh," Kagome had fallen silent, and I could now imagine her brain working a way for both of us to escape. "Do you suppose you could…um…take a risk?"

"I could, but Kagura can catch me right away and come here in a flash," I objected.

"Well, I remember something about her hinting that she wanted to be free," my second self replied, and I thought in wonder. Didn't Kagura lead a comfortable enough life? So comfortable that she would never want to leave her master's side?

"If were lucky, then Kagura won't inform Naraku about what we're doing. In a worst case scenario, Kagura would inform Naraku. We'd be caught if you're too slow, and Kagura will make sure that we are tortured real bad-"

"Okay okay, that's enough imagining!" I was wishing that Kagome hadn't voiced that out right now. "I just want to get out of here as soon as possible. And remember, if we get caught, I'M the one who suffers."

"Ah, but remember, it's MY body that Kagura's inflicting pain on," Kagome replied smoothly with a hint of fear in her tone.

"But I might have to stay in your body forever," I reminded my friend. "If my master succeeds in harming your other friends."

There was a silence. And then…

"Kirale, you don't have a true body right now. Would you keep mine if you had the chance?"

I froze. How could Kagome come up with such a thought? "Of course I won't," I replied angrily. "I don't take what's not mine. I was forced into this body, so don't you worry. You'll have your body back as soon as Lord Naraku's dead."

"Thanks," I could feel Kagome smiling weakly.

"No problem," I replied, feeling warmer.

**With InuYasha and the others**

"Well, we're here," Sesshomaru's voice cut through the air like a knife through butter. Everyone moaned. The journey had been long, and had therefore led everybody into an uneasy sleep.

Koga yawned and opened his eyes, only to shut them tightly. Though Koga was used to big, grand-looking places, he had had yet to experience a scary castle-until he'd seen Naraku's. _Well, I'm going to BUST it down,_ Koga couldn't help grinning at his own optimism. Miroku, sensing the positive vibes, quickly put them out with a pessimistic remark. Unfortunately, however, Koga was feeling too confident for that.

"At least I have some positive vibes about me," he retorted angrily. "Let's get going."

"Wait! Koga, you don't want to run head-first into the castle! What if Naraku's got some evil, strong weapon in there?" Sango cried, holding the angry wolf demon back.

"Well then, I'm going to defeat Naraku and his evil, strong weapon!" Koga snorted, pulling away from Sango. "Lemme in there!"

"Koga, you need a plan," Kikyo said knowingly. "And I think I've got one, because I know that Kagome's not one to sit around and wait for her friends to come to her all day…"

**With Kagome**

So I had gained Kirale's trust and confidence, and best of all, the reassurance that she would never try to take my body away from me. Untying the leg ropes in right in front of Kagura was risky enough, but the next part of the plan was hardest. Kirale was going to have to get to the entrance of the castle without a map. Kagome could tell that Naraku's hiding place was huge, judging by the way people's voices echoed through the corridor when shouting.

"Remember, Kagome," Kirale was talking now, and I turned my attention to her. "If we get caught in this, you're to blame."

"Please have confidence, Kirale," I replied as calm as I could. "You're making me nervous."

As Kirale untied the bonds that held her down with difficulty, the only thing I could do was to curl up into the tiniest ball I could curl up into and hope that everything would go out as planned.

**With Naraku**

"Kagura, you are sure that the captives will not attempt to escape?" Naraku asked his servant for the seventh time that day.

Kagura sighed. "Of course, master, your binding spell and the ropes are everything that make up the perfect escape proof solution."

"Sister, look at this," Kagura could hear Kanna whispering silently to her, and the female youkai's heart began to beat faster.

"The two are untying the bonds that hold them down, and with amazing strength," Kanna whispered to her younger sister.

Kagura shrugged, knowing that the time had come. "Let it be," was all she said before returning to Naraku's side.

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A/N: Once again, I apologize most sincerely for losing my temper and patience, and therefore I ask you forgiveness by REVIEWING to show your appreciation for my efforts. I apologize once more and to ask you to review. 


	19. Chapter 19:A Pyrrhus Victory

Chapter 19: A Pyrrhus Victory

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.

A/N: I'm sorry I didn't update for so long…lots of work…so I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter! And in case you don't know, 'a Pyrrhus victory' is when someone wins, but loses almost everything in the process, after the Roman general Pyrrhus who fought a war and won, but nearly lost all his men-twice. I think I might have spelt the word wrong, but never mind --

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Kirale's POV **

"I'm free, let's get going," I whispered, and without much difficulty, rose from the hard wooden bed.

"Good, we're lucky enough that Kagura didn't see us," Kagome whispered back to me.

"I think she saw us," I replied. "But why she didn't make an effort to stop us, I have no idea why…"

"Maybe she's tired of working for Naraku. I wonder if she'd care to help us in our escape?" I heard Kagome's voice sound out rather loudly, and her tone was almost hopeful.

"I'd like to wish for that, too, but Naraku's probably pampered Kagura too well for her wanting to help us," I retorted.

Trying to make as little noise as possible, I opened the door and started down the long corridor. Halfway down it, however, a shrill noise pierced the silence, and I almost jumped. The shrill sound was coming from me.

"Uh…Kirale…" I heard my companion whisper feebly into my ear. "Reach into my right coat pocket and get my mobile phone…"

Quickly stuffing Kagome's thin, long-fingered hand into her right coat pocket, I drew out Kagome's phone. It was red and white with a cute little rabbit in the top right corner of her colour monitor. Quickly suppressing my want of saying 'how cute!', I pressed the phone's green pick-up button and jammed the gadget to my ear. Kagome told me what to say.

"Kagome here."

"Kagome? You're still alive!"

"Kikyo, what the hell are you doing calling me now! Do you know that someone could've discovered me?"

I could hear Kagome thinking to herself: _We have been discovered, but whatever._

"Forget that now. We've just knocked the bodyguards out and entered Naraku's mansion. Where are you?"

"Not sure exactly, but I've just untied my bonds. Kagura and Naraku left us here, so yeah. I've got a girl called Kirale with me. She's controlling my body now." I could tell that Kagome was trying not to use too strong a word to hurt my feelings, but-it was bad enough with her trying and reminding me of what I was. A soul without a body.

"Really? Hi, Kirale. Well, do you suppose you can meet the gang at the dining room? Just look out for a two boys with long, silver hair, and one has doggy ears at the top."

"Got you," I said, and hung up.

"Come on, we've got to get moving before someone catches us," Kagome said, and I quickly started sprinting as quietly as I could to the end of the corridor. My limbs were tingling with fear and excitement, and I think Kagome could feel this as well.

**With InuYasha and the others**

"If Kagome hadn't been so darn careless, we wouldn't even be here in the first place!" InuYasha growled. This had been his fifth (vain) attempt that day in breaking the awkward silence that reigned in the mansion. Miroku, however, WAS tired.

"InuYasha, stop complaining," he said, putting all his patience into what he said. "And, not only can we save Kagome, we can also kill Naraku."

"Well, who was the person who thought up this whole thing in the first place?" InuYasha was whining this time. Everybody looked at Kikyo, who turned a rather nice shade of red as she realised what InuYasha had said.

"W-well, you didn't have to follow my plan if you didn't want to," the high-school girl made a terrible effort of defending herself, when she caught Sesshomaru's strange gaze. There was something about those eyes that hypnotized her…what was she thinking? There was no time for distraction now. Pushing herself onwards, Kikyo lowered her head and darted past the youkai. Little did she know that his eyes were still on her back every now and then.

"Interesting…" he murmured quietly to himself before following the rest of the gang. What was the great Sesshomaru doing here? Playing fighting games with the puppet Naraku? Or following orders under his whelp of a half-brother? Whatever…

All of a sudden, a loud scream sounded from in front. "KOGA! WHAT-WHAT'RE THOSE…FURRY BROWN THINGS YOU'RE WEARING! YOU'RE HALF NAKED, AREN'T YOU?"

"Quiet down, Sango! This is just one of those hero uniform things I wanted to wear! And no, I'm NOT half-naked! Who wants to go around half-naked? Not me, that's for sure!"

"Shut up in front!" InuYasha could be heard hissing. And Koga, take that thing off! You're going to scare Kagome, since you're in front!"

"No, and since when have you started caring for Kagome?" Koga snorted.

"I'm not doing this because I care about that wench, it's because her stupid friend won't stop snivelling if we don't save her!"

**Kagome's POV**

So far so good. Chances were, we'd been discovered, but Kagura seemed not to be making a big fuss out of it. Thank goodness for that.

As things turned out, Kirale was a person who could be persuaded easily, and she followed orders quite well. I know that I'm being a bit bossy now, but if I weren't, we'd still probably be tied up in that stuffy little room Naraku left us in. Unfortunately, however, Kirale would've been more fun to be around with if she'd been a bit more…bossy, like-like…InuYasha.

InuYasha. Without him, I realised, there wasn't anybody to argue with. Sometimes he could come up with good arguments, reasonable ones. And the way he looked when I rebutted! Those cute amber eyes and his muscles flexing as if they wanted to punch someone…my 'cheeks' were turning red now.

"What next?" Kirale's voice cut into my thoughts like a knife. Shaking my 'head', I listened carefully to Kirale as she reported what she saw.

"Right now we're in a one way corridor. It's dimly lit, I can't see very well, but there's this big furry brown monster heading our way, and if we turn back, it'll only be a matter of time before we end up in that little room again. We're just prolonging our deaths!"

"Right, we've only got one way out left," I gritted my teeth, and Kirale braced herself for the attack.

"Go Kirale!" I yelled, and my friend raced up to the brown thing she had described. I wish I could've been able to see what was going on outside, but that was impossible. I had quickly learnt that only one soul can control a body at a time, and I couldn't change over with Kirale.

I was jolted onto my ghostly side as my body and that of the monster's collided, and I just barely managed to suppress a gasp. A loud shout was heard, and my name was shouted out.

"InuYasha…?" I couldn't help feeling surprised. Was InuYasha coming to my rescue? I was flipped onto my back and lay there, dazed.

"Koga, you idiot! Get off her you furry brown critter, can't you recognize Kagome?" Kikyo demanded, and I inwardly let a cry of relief escape. I was in safe hands at last.

**With Naraku**

"Kagura, you're sure that our prisoners are still inside?" Naraku asked his servant.

"Of course, Naraku, they're safe and sound with me," Kagura forced a smile, trying not to betray the truth to her master. Or else her heart would be the last thing she ever saw.

Turning around on Kagura's feather to give himself a more comfortable position, the evil man began to let his thoughts wander. Everything seemed to be going awry. He couldn't really know if what Kagura had said had had any truth in it. But then again, he'd never trusted anyone apart from Kanna. Good little servant, Kanna was.

And on top of that, it seemed that a brat of his rival's gang knew alchemy. At least he knew that was true. How, though? Naraku gritted his teeth and frowned, as he always did when he was mulling over a problem. The pest seemed to know it and at the same time be oblivious to his powers. _I need his secrets in order to master MY alchemy, _the villain concluded before turning to Kanna.

"Show me our prisoners' room," he commanded sternly, and felt pleasure and anger as he watched Kagura's face losing its calmness.

"Lord Naraku, you must trust me," Kagura began, but she knew that all was lost.

Naraku observed Kanna's mirror quietly, feeling the anger slowly boiling up in him. How could Kagura do such things when she knew her life was on the line? Never mind; the worst had come for her now, her loss would be nothing to him.

The last thought Kagura had before she passed on was, _I hope Naraku burns in Hell._ Who could blame her for it?

As soon as the last ceremonial flame had died away, Naraku turned to his one remaining slave. "Kanna, take us back to the mansion," he told his servant sternly. "Our dear InuYasha must be in the castle by now, and I've got a surprise for him and Kagome."

**With InuYasha**

"Dang, I can't find the way out," InuYasha was sniffing like crazy now, but stopped as his nose smelt trouble.

"And you never will," a voice said from behind Kagome, and she spun around to face Naraku, smiling triumphantly.

"You b……," InuYasha growled, showing his long sharp claws. "You're going to pay for abducting Kagome!"

"What powerful language," Naraku tutted. "But it's good to know that you are in awe and have respect for me."

"Shut up," another cold voice said. Both InuYasha and Naraku turned to face Sesshomaru, his usually calm eyes red. His voice was filled with cold fury. "I can't believe that you dragged us all this way just to listen to your false taunts. Die!"

Kirale hopped out of the way in time as her old master rushed with demon speed at the two 'good guys'. There wasn't any point in getting tied up in the fight. Hearing Kagome disagree, Kirale uncomfortably hid in the shadows and watched the brawl. "Get out there and fight! We've got to help them!" Kagome was screaming.

"And get us killed?" Kirale shouted back. "No way!"

At that moment, Naraku stopped dead in mid-air, chuckling evilly. Unable to move, everyone else watched, petrified, as extra tentacles sprouted from below Naraku's limbs and huge, monstrous roots took the place of his feet.

"Using extra limbs to make yourself look scary," InuYasha and Sesshomaru both said in unison. "Pathetic!"

"Jinx!" InuYasha quickly replied before Sesshomaru could say anything. Glaring at him, the youkai quickly dodged a tentacle coming from behind…which then headed for Kagome. Kirale could have dodged easily, but that was when a spark of evil, implanted into her soul by Naraku, came to life.

"If I'm going down, you're going down," Kirale grinned, and Kagome screamed, wishing that someone could hear her. "It's for our master-he's your master, too, not just mine."

"Watch out, Naraku's coming for you! Jump or run out of the way!" Sensing that Kagome/Kirale wasn't going to move anytime soon, InuYasha ran forward, trying to reach the girl before Naraku did.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Blood spurted out from a fatal stomach wound, turning the dark brown tiles a crimson red. Everything was silent, save for the gentle sobbing coming from Kikyo. Then-

"You B……! You'll really die now!" InuYasha felt his blood pumping wildly, urging him on to kill Naraku. The hanyou didn't need any more encouragement. Grabbing a sword from it place high up on the wall, InuYasha swung wildly at his adversary, managing to cut off one of his opponent's tentacles. Sango, producing a huge boomerang from out of nowhere, would have gotten Naraku's head if only InuYasha had been watching where he was going.

"Argh, Sango, what was that for!" the hanyou furiously dodged away, trying to quickly nurse his new arm wound.

"Shut up, whelp, now's not the time for whinging!" Sesshomaru flew at Naraku, his claws aimed directly at Naraku's heart. "Poison claws!"

Carelessly flinging the youkai away like a rag doll, Naraku was now left with only Kikyo and Sango (Koga and Miroku were too busy looking after Kagome-funny how the men were looking after her). Feeling that it was time to be useful, Kikyo slowly engaged her smirking opponent in a conversation.

"Why is it that you and InuYasha are enemies?" Kikyo inquired, choosing her words carefully. In reality, her hand was slowly reaching out for a bow and quiver full of arrows behind her. She would be no use with a sword.

"It's a long story…" Naraku considered what he would say next for a moment. Would he actually tell his story to the helpless little girl in front of him? It wasn't as if she could do any harm to him. That would give him plenty of time to fire up his special attack. Putting his hands behind his back, he slowly formed the spell that would kill the little lady before him.

"Who cares? I like a good, long story," Kikyo (with difficulty) strung the bow behind her back and prepared for the tough step ahead of her.

"No…I don't think I'll tell you, why would I give my victim entertainment before he or she-AAAAAGGGGHH!"

"I got lucky!" Kikyo gasped, stringing another arrow onto her bow in case Naraku wasn't dead yet. Her last shot had gotten Naraku in the chest, but she just wanted to be on the safe side.

Humiliated at being killed by a human girl who had had no experience with a bow whatsoever, Naraku sent his spell, which was ready by now, flying at her. This special attack, he knew, would kill at least one person…and he closed his eyes and gave himself in to eternal sleep, hoping that he would have gotten someone else, namely InuYasha or his twit of a half-brother.

Kikyo watched in horror as a huge ball of flame hurled itself at her. It then turned into an evil purple dragon which opened it's mouth and breathed poison, then fire, out onto everyone in the vicinity. Sango, with her gas mask, and the demons were alright. Miroku and Kikyo however, could only hold their breaths and hope that the poison wouldn't get them. Everyone thought that that was Naraku's special move. They were, however, wrong, for that was when Kikyo spotted the fire coming at her. As it was too late to move, the resigned girl closed her eyes and waited for the images of her life to pass by her.

No, nobody else could die after his brother's woman! Taking the last of his strength, Sesshomaru leapt forward in front of Kikyo and just barely managed to raise a shield over them. The fire melted when it came into contact with Sesshomaru's shield, but the impact of it all was so great that it knocked the youkai out, making him fall onto Kikyo. Feeling something in her chest give way, Kikyo's breathing became laboured, and she hoped that when she woke up again, she'd see Kagome leaning over her, smiling as if she'd never died. Already a new life of angels and lush gardens beckoned.

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A/N: I know, gloomy chapter, and I'm so sorry that I didn't update for a long time! Please review! 


	20. Chapter 20: Memories of the Past

Chapter 20: Memories of the Past

Disclaimer: If I owned InuYasha, why would I be writing more nonsense stories about it now? Well, for those who don't get my point, I don't own InuYasha.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, and the story's kind of drawing to a close. This is probably the second last chapter, and there's going to be some music lyrics-Because of You by Kelly Clarkson. Enjoy the fanfic!

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With InuYasha and Sesshomaru**

Only two more days till their return to Tokyo, and so much had passed during that month...the two Taisho brothers were reclining at the beach, trying to have a good time; Koga, Sango and Miroku were back at the hotel sleeping. But nobody can have a good time when they know that two people they know have died.

InuYasha stared out at the sea, thinking about Kagome. Kikyo and she shouldn't even have been dragged into this business in the first place. In fact, the whole affair between him and Naraku shouldn't have been brought up at all during this trip! Maybe he should have stayed dead in the first place, because thanks to him, the two supposed guests were both in some other world.

"I never knew that you actually think about things, little brother," an amused voice said behind him.

"Whatever, SESSHY," InuYasha retorted; and he felt, with some satisfaction, that behind his back his annoying older sibling flinched.

Sesshomaru could have said something very mean at this point, but he held back and walked up so that he was standing beside InuYasha.

"The whole place is very quiet-without those wenches," the youkai stated, hoping that his brother wouldn't try to change the subject. For some strange reason, he, the introverted youkai, had wanted to talk about this all along. _The ways of the humans are rubbing off onto Sesshomaru,_ he thought with displeasure.

InuYasha lowered his head so that his bangs covered his eyes-his ears drooped sadly. He hadn't even bothered covering them up. "I wonder when we should tell the old folks." 'The old folks', of course, were all the adults involved in the affair.

"As soon as possible," was the latter's tart reply. The two were silent for a moment, listening to the seagulls' cries and the younger children's joyous shouts from far away.

"It sure is quiet without those two," InuYasha concluded. Then an evil thought came into his head. "Which of the two do you like better, and why?"

Sesshomaru was taken aback by the query. Why should his stupid idiot of a brother wonder about his feelings? With that, he calmed himself down. He could avoid the question easily and put his brother in the same situation, but nobody was going to find out his feelings. "I don't know, how about you?"

"Of course you do," the hanyou sighed, changing his tactics. "Just that you're waiting for my reply, so then you can copy me, right? I know you envy me."

"Dream on, little brother," Sesshomaru snapped, all his remaining patience worn out. "And I don't envy you!"

"Nyah nyah, prove it! If you're a man, no wait, that's demon, then you should have no trouble whatsoever telling me about who you like better!" InuYasha pulled a face, knowing that he had his brother at last.

"Hmph…I think I like the quieter girl better," Sesshomaru replied after a while. "I seem to have forgotten her name, however."

"You like Kikyo?" InuYasha exclaimed in surprise. "I thought that you and Kagome make a better pair! I mean, you're both-" then hesitating, the hanyou fell silent. Sesshomaru simply glared. "You like her, that Kagome woman, don't you?"

The hanyou sadly eyed the scar on his arm. "I came in too late to save her, that stupid wench," he growled, but it was no use. He still couldn't get rid of the guilt that was flooding him. "And now there's nobody to contradict me whenever I state something, nobody to pick me up whenever I fall down…" InuYasha halted, his eyes widening. What kind of crap was he spouting? Kagome's dying affair had made him so sentimental, dammit!

"My sentimental little brother," Sesshomaru sneered. "Blaming yourself for someone else's fault is not in your nature. No wonder you're not a full demon-you're too emotional."

InuYasha snapped. "Well, it's better than feeling no guilt for killing an innocent girl! You just fainted right on top of Kikyo and crushed her lungs!"

There was a cold silence, and for a moment, everything else in the world faded away, leaving behind the two brothers.

"It was accidental," Sesshomaru's voice had taken on a sudden, gentle tone. "I couldn't help knocking out, could I?"

Their conversation was drowned out by a car passing by, music blaring out from it. The driver was a young woman of about 21.

"Hey woman, turn your music down! You're being so selfish, not letting-" InuYasha stopped mid-sentence, his ears twitching as he listened to the lyrics.

_I will not make the same mistakes that you did _

_I will not let myself cause my heart so much misery _

_I will not break the way you did _

_You fell so hard _

_I've learned the hard way, to never let it get that far _

_Because of you _

_I never stray too far from the sidewalk _

_Because of you _

_I learned to play on the safe side_

_So I don't get hurt _

_Because of you _

_I find it hard to trust _

_Not only me, but everyone around me _

_Because of you _

_I am afraid _

_I lose my way _

_And it's not too long before you point it out _

_I cannot cry _

_Because I know that's weakness in your eyes _

_I'm forced to fake, a smile, a laugh_

_Every day of my life _

_My heart can't possibly break _

_When it wasn't even whole to start with _

_Because of you _

_I never stray too far from the sidewalk _

_Because of you _

_I learned to play on the safe side _

_So I don't get hurt _

_Because of you _

_I find it hard to trust _

_Not only me, but everyone around me _

_Because of you _

_I am afraid _

_I watched you die _

_I heard you cry_

_Every night in your sleep _

_I was so young _

_You should have known better than to lean on me _

_You never thought of anyone else _

_You just saw your pain _

_And now I cry _

_In the middle of the night _

_For the same damn thing_

_Because of you _

_I never stray too far from the sidewalk _

_Because of you _

_I learned to play on the safe side _

_So I don't get hurt _

_Because of you _

_I tried my hardest just to forget everything _

_Because of you _

_I don't know how to let anyone else in _

_Because of you _

_I'm ashamed of my life because it's empty _

_Because of you _

_I am afraid _

The hanyou slowly sank down onto the sand, his eyes straining back sudden tears. "Stupid Kagome," he growled. "You should have moved out of the way. You had ample time to move."

"I think she would have…she had another soul possessing her body, yes?" Sesshomaru replied, not showing any emotion whatsoever. "Maybe Naraku implanted evil in her soul as he attacked her. That evil made the soul hate Kagome so much that she was even willing to die in order to bring Kagome down for Naraku. But Kikyo-"

InuYasha blinked as a tear dripped onto his shirt. Whether it was his or his brother's, he had no idea. "I suppose there won't be anybody to have glaring matches with you, eh?" he joked miserably.

"She was good at glaring," the youkai concluded. "And possibly good at a million other things, too. She would have been a good pawn for me to use in society." Although it sounded like Sesshomaru was thinking only of himself, InuYasha knew all too well that this was the best way the youkai could pay a compliment without embarrassing himself. But all the same…

"No need to hide it, Sesshy, I already know your feelings," InuYasha said.

"Oh really? But you don't seem to even know your own, going on about how stupid what's-her-face is when she didn't get out of the way-and yet you love her."

"Like you love Kikyo," InuYasha blurted out in a desperate attempt to save himself.

"Don't talk about that wench anymore!" Sesshomaru's eyes glowed red for a second before turning back to their original colour, and his expression softened slightly. InuYasha instinctively took a step back, unsure of what would come next. Then, "She doesn't exist in this world anymore. She's just a memory of the past now."

And with those words, Sesshomaru flipped his silver hair back over his shoulder and returned to the car. Without saying anything else, InuYasha followed, still unsure of whether he could explain a huge hole that was growing in his heart-was this Kagome's doing? Stupid wench, why'd she have to die? InuYasha choked back a sob. Why couldn't he have been quicker in intercepting the blow?

**With Sango, Miroku and Koga**

Though she twisted and turned, Sango couldn't get to sleep. How could Miroku and Koga sleep so soundly? Weren't they Kagome's and Kikyo's friends as well? Turning her body so that she was staring at the ceiling, Sango sighed, blinking back the tears that were threatening to spill down her face. Why didn't Kagome get out of the way? Had that cursed second spirit in her body killed her on purpose? Or was she just not concentrating? Why had Sesshomaru saved Kikyo yet killed her in the end? There were so many mysteries left to solve after this tragedy…Sango closed her eyes, throwing all thoughts of Kagome and Kikyo into the back of her mind, but it didn't help. "Argh, why can't I just go to sleep and have some peace to myself?" Sango opened her eyes again-and stared into the face of Miroku.

"Peek-a-boo!" he said brightly, poking Sango dangerously close to her chest.

"Hentai man!" a loud slap echoed through the room, and Miroku flew off the bed and onto the floor, looking stunned and hurt. "You didn't have to do that," he said.

"Well, I thought it was necessary to!" Sango lowered her head so that her bangs covered her eyes. "How can you be like this after-that?"

"W-ell, it's a long story," the performer admitted, taking a seat on a nearby armchair. "But Koga and I have a nice surprise for you at the end of this cursed trip, I'll tell you that."

"And…what about your newfound alchemy powers?" Sango asked. "I remember reading in one of those books you bought… 'Those that have been through the Gate have true knowledge and don't need to draw the transmutation circle, but have given up something in return for true knowledge.' What did you give up?"

"Hm, I don't know," Miroku replied, frowning. "I never really got around to reading those books…but since I don't need the transmu-whatever circle…it's odd. Maybe my parents shoved me through that Gate when I was too young to remember anything?"

The joke was a feeble one, but Sango smiled anyway, showing that she understood. "That would be cruel, shoving your own child through a gate for true knowledge-many people have grown wise enough without having to lose something!"

"I know…but maybe they didn't know the rules at the time or something," Miroku said, and Sango rolled her eyes, glad that they had something other than the deaths of her friends to discuss.

"There you go again Miroku, being your hopefully retarded self."

"When wasn't he?" a voice from behind them said, and the two turned around to see InuYasha and Sesshomaru come over.

"Back from the beach so soon?" Miroku asked, putting on a perverted grin. "Sango and I were just having some fun time to ourselves…"

"Discussing alchemy, of course!" Sango added, glaring at Miroku. What did this idiot want to do, get himself slapped forever?

"Right," Miroku stood up and smoothed his pyjamas down. "Hey Koga, you lazy old guy, get up, we're going somewhere!"

A dark lump by the wall suddenly reared up, and a clumsy hand stretched out and groped around on the night-table, obviously searching for something. As the hand came to rest on an alarm clock, the rest of the huge figure reared up, throwing the blankets onto the bed. A huge monster clambered off the bed and straightened.

"What now, where are we going?" Koga asked, smoothing his messy hair.

"Koga you were so scary! For a moment there, old buddy, I thought you were Naraku come back from the dead!" Everybody laughed, half-heartedly, at InuYasha's jibe. Koga gritted his teeth and threw his pillow at the hanyou.

"Mangy mutt!"

"Fleabag!"

"No good moron!"

"Impatient wolf!"

"Stop bickering like a pair of old ladies," Sesshomaru grunted. "We've got enough on our hands without you two getting in each other's bad graces."

"As if we aren't already," InuYasha muttered, but he broke off the chain of insults he had prepared beforehand and sank down onto his bed, sighing heavily. Even arguing with Koga didn't bring him the pleasure that came with arguing with Kagome. "But I've got too little time on my hands now to be talking with a stupid wolf like you."

"Shut up, mangy mongrel," Koga growled before turning his attention to the rest of the group. "Okay fine, where are we going now?"

"Have fun?" Sango's eyes brightened for a quick moment, and then she lowered her head and added, "But it's not fun without Kagome and Kikyo now."

"Hate to say this, but they're already gone. Let's try and get over this, ok? We'll tell their parents in good time," Miroku said gently, patting Sango on the back. "For now, let's go and really have some fun…at the Galleria?"

Sango's troubles were forgotten in an instant. "Shopping at the Galleria? Wow, I've always wanted to go shopping there-it's my dream come true!" And with sparkling eyes, the happy Sango dragged a now unhappy Miroku out of the hotel room. You could hear agonizing screams and shouts in the hallway.

It was a rather hot day, so InuYasha bought an ice cream for everyone but Sesshomaru (who bought one himself because he couldn't ever bring himself to say 'thank you InuYasha'), and the noise of the Galleria was heavenly music to the gang's ears compared to Naraku's booming tones in the quiet, spooky castle. Along with the shops, the effect was enough to put Kagome and Kikyo out of everyone's minds for a while-except InuYasha's. Whilst everybody else were buying clothes and having a good time, the hanyou sat on a bench and began to ponder about Kagome and Kikyo.

Kikyo had been the cool, reserved one, but underneath it all was a kind, caring soul. Kagome, on the other hand, was fun and rather loud, but she knew when to argue and when to hold back. She also seemed to be a bit ditzy at times.

A group of children danced and skipped past, play-arguing over something. Their parents followed behind, smiling and talking. It would be a long time before InuYasha could have a good argument again, and he would never feel privileged enough to look after someone again.

"Stupid Kagome," he grumbled, turning away from the group of children to look at his shoes. "You just had to get yourself killed. What about me? What did you expect me to do? Save you? Well, I just wasn't fast enough…"

It felt terrible just thinking about that fateful day.

"Hey, InuYasha, don't just sit there moping around, come and join us; we're having so much fun!" Sango squealed with joy as she dragged Sesshomaru, Miroku and Koga along with her. When she saw InuYasha's expression however, her expression softened, and she looked sad. "I try not to think of them so much," the girl whispered. "Just try and help me get over them, please? It might help you, too."

"Alright," InuYasha managed to smile, but it was a forced one. "Let's go…buy…um…"

"Shoes!" the old Sango seemed to return again. "Let's go buy shoes! Oh, what a wonderful day this is!"

Despite those words and the cheery façade Sango put on, nobody was fooled by the way their friend really felt.

* * *

A/N: Seven more pages of writing…I'm proud of myself. :D Please review! 


	21. Chapter 21:Epilogue

Epilogue

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha I don't own InuYasha I don't own InuYasha…dammit! Get the point already!

A/N: Finally, enough time to finish this chapter:D I hope that you'll enjoy this last chapter and that you've enjoyed my story overall! Also, the alchemy involved in here might be a bit off the one in Full Metal Alchemist, so please don't make any funny comments about it:D

Warnings: Romantic crap and a bit of swearing

* * *

"InuYasha, cheer up! This is our second last day in Hawaii!" Sango yelled as she dragged Miroku, Koga and Sesshomaru through the shopping mall. Waking from his trance, InuYasha grinned weakly as he watched his older brother helplessly following Sango through Macy's. Sango could be extremely strong when she was trying. Children ran back and forth and babies cried to their mothers, some of whom were busy eyeing the merchandise in windows. Shopkeepers occasionally yelled out their wares and explained the use of a product to a crowd. 

"Sango, for Pete's sake, stop pulling at me!" Koga pulled himself away with difficulty, brushing at his sleeves. "I'm with you! Chill, dudette!"

"Whatever you say, dude!" Sango giggled as she shoved her other two captives…into the women's fitting rooms along with the shoes she had picked.

Loud screams and hollers of 'Perverts! Get out of here!' and 'Oh, heaven!' (obviously Miroku) echoed from the room. A few minutes later found Sesshomaru staggering out with red/black eyes and Miroku with two visible lumps on his head forming. InuYasha was tempted to make a smart remark, but words failed him. Instead, an image of Kagome popped up in his head, and InuYasha mentally swatted it away. Why did that idiot always find a way into his thoughts? She was dead; there was no point brooding about the past. Blinking away any tears that might fall, InuYasha made his way over to a nearby restroom. Seeing his friend disappear into the restrooms, Miroku followed, taking care not to let Sango see him.

Miroku found his friend shutting the door and, as casually as he could, entered a cubicle.

"Hey buddy, wassup?" Miroku asked pleasantly. He heard InuYasha curse before saying, "Mind your own business, lecher!"

"Hey, no need to get so hostile," the 'lecher' responded, sounding hurt. "The least you could do is to tell your old pal why you're so down."

"You sound like some freaking woman," InuYasha snorted before relenting. "It's Kagome…I just can't seem to get rid of her."

There was a silence. "Don't worry about her," Miroku replied at last. "She's fine, I swear."

"How would you know? You're not Kagome," InuYasha said, and Miroku heard the faint rustling of pants being pulled up.

"How would you know that I know that Kagome's fine? You're not me," Miroku replied smartly, flushing the toilet. The two friends came out at exactly the same time and both proceeded to wash their hands. After both were done, InuYasha quickly hugged Miroku. "Thanks, pal, I knew you'd be there for me."

"Hard times, I'll always be there for you," Miroku answered, and both stayed there for awhile. When they parted however, InuYasha saw a boy with his eyes wide open.

"Mummy…" the boy whimpered, clutching his blanket. "I want mummy…"

Quickening his pace, InuYasha hurried Miroku out of the toilets, cursing to high heaven. "Dang it, you stupid lecher, this is all your fault!" The dog demon shook Miroku until he was tired, then let go of his friend's collar.

"Hey, it wasn't me who got sentimental all over," Miroku smirked. "Anyhow, let's go meet Sango."

"Speak of the devil," InuYasha muttered, and both turned to see Sango, Koga and Sesshomaru rushing over. "What happened to you two?" Sango exclaimed. "We were looking for you all over!"

"I told you the two were in the toilets," Sesshomaru said quietly. "Their scent was strongest there."

"Well, I'm not a guy, so I can't go in," Sango retorted. "I can't go into the men's restrooms whenever I want! If you were so sure of yourself, you should've gone in and checked that they were there!"

"Actually, I'm glad that you guys didn't check on us," Miroku said quickly.

"Yeah," InuYasha agreed, and the five left it at that. The rest of the day was spent going on rides at a nearby amusement park and shopping. InuYasha won two diamond rings (which he accepted rather reluctantly), Sesshomaru received a huge Stewie family guy plushie while Miroku gave Sango a cute little dolphin stuffed toy. Everyone retired from the fair happy that day.

**That night**

"Whose ruddy idea was it to come here for dinner?" Sesshomaru asked grumpily. "If we'd gone back to the hotel, I could've cooked something for us all."

"In your dreams, brother. The only things you can cook are Brussels sprouts, and those are gross as hell," InuYasha snorted, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "At least this restaurant has some top quality chefs. Sesshomaru, I'm telling you, you'll never be able to live without someone else. You can't cook." Sango, Miroku and Koga sighed in unison; if they weren't careful, a fist fight would commence.

"I can always order takeout, and I can still learn how to cook," Sesshomaru said coldly. "I don't mind."

"What you said," InuYasha replied, snorting. "Is all garbage. You won't have time to learn how to cook with your acrobat career, and you can't go around eating takeout and going out for meals the rest of your life."

"Time management is something you don't have, little brother," Sesshomaru sneered.

"Look, I know you two are about to have your lovers' quarrel, but don't you think it's time to order your food?" a familiar voice asked, amused. Surprised, InuYasha turned his head, to see…Kagome.

"Kagome, you're…alive?" InuYasha croaked hoarsely. He couldn't believe his eyes. What was happening? What he suddenly dead? How could Kagome have returned?

"Of course, and Kikyo is, too. She's just using the washroom." Kagome eyed InuYasha suspiciously. "Didn't Miroku and Koga tell you?"

"Tell us what?" InuYasha glared at the pair, now tittering away. "Spill or I'll rip your throats open, and this puke green tablecloth won't look good with crimson red dots and streaks on it."

"InuYasha, do you have to be so graphic," Sango mimed vomiting before staring curiously at Koga and Miroku. "Okay guys, what were you hiding?" Even Sesshomaru was curious; his amber eyes gazed steadily at the pair.

"Okay, time for us to come out clean," Miroku said at last. "You see, back at the fortune-teller's tent before the showdown with Naraku, I found a book about all sorts of alchemy tricks, so I purchased it without telling you. After Kagome's and Kikyo's death, Koga and I couldn't sleep, so we flipped through the alchemy book…and found a spell telling us how to revive people from the dead. We tried the spell…and it worked!" Miroku grinned at Koga, who grinned back, showing white fangs.

"There are still a lot of questions that went unanswered. First of all, what happened to the bodies that went for the funeral…?" Sango questioned, her eyes puzzled. "And after the resurrection, where did Kagome and Kikyo stay? Sesshomaru, InuYasha and I never saw them once!"

"For the first question, we just substituted their bodies for huge stuffed dolls," Koga explained. Everyone was so busy, nobody noticed anything at all! We also bribed the doctor to just tell everyone the original cause of death so that nobody would notice anything funny."

"There are even more questions to be answered now, fools," InuYasha gritted his teeth, and pulled Kagome towards him, an arm draped protectively around her shoulders. Surprised at this, Kagome frowned a little before turning back to Koga's explanation.

"For the second question…" Koga began.

"Kikyo and Kagome stayed at my friend's house. It just occurred to me that I'd forgotten to visit a friend, so she helped me shelter Kikyo and Kagome, and I just told Kagome and Kikyo to meet us here tonight," Miroku said. "I'll have to say thank you to Laura later," he added thoughtfully.

"Okay…" Sango said uncertainly.

"Two more questions," InuYasha said. "First of all, I thought there was a law to alchemy-equal trade. What did you trade for Kagome and Kikyo? It must have been something precious."

"Well…" Miroku looked down at the tablecloth. "I used…um…that metal love thing that you wrote to Kagome once…that was when Koga and I were doing when we'd said that we both needed to go to the toilet and…erm…the ring you told us Sesshomaru hid in his bedroom all the time. He took it with him on this trip, you know." The whole sentence was mumbled, but the two youkai heard anyways.

"Why you little…" Sesshomaru growled. "Why didn't you use something of your own? That ring was precious to me! I-"

"Even more precious than Kikyo's life?" Miroku interrupted, silencing Sesshomaru. "The book said that the possession had to be from someone who loved the dead person, and the object had to be precious to them," Miroku said. "I couldn't pitch in because I only like Sango… (at this moment Sango blushed and turned away) and Koga liked Kagome, but he didn't bring anything precious with him on the trip. And since we figured you two have a thing for Kagome and Kikyo anyway…" There was an awkward silence.

"So Koga, you didn't bring money?" InuYasha shot out. "That's pretty precious to you."

"The stupid thing wouldn't accept money," Koga replied.

"So InuYasha…do you have a thing for me?" Kagome asked, her eyes blinking. "If that's so, that means Sesshomaru…"

InuYasha couldn't reply; his pride wouldn't allow him to. Did he really love Kagome? If not, why had he thought of her all those times he had been alone? He had tried to save Kagome from death, but had failed. His conscience was still guilty. All he could muster was, "Kagome, I'm sorry."

Before Kagome could reply however, Kikyo appeared, smoothing her hair. She placed her hand on Sesshomaru's shoulder, which made him stiffen. "Hi guys, what's up?"

"Just explaining our stroke of genius to the others," Miroku grinned.

"Whatever you say," Kikyo sat next to Sesshomaru and leaned on his shoulder. InuYasha cackled as his brother squirmed uncomfortably before settling down-he knew that 'Fluff-brain' was not used to signs of affection.

"In any case…" InuYasha said. "Since Fluffy is a bit…preoccupied…I'll ask my two questions now. First of all…_how in the hell did you get your grubby paws on that metal thing? _I see it got to Kagome…"

"Didn't you know? Kagome brought it with her on the trip-said it was from you and that she found it in a cereal box…"

"A cereal box? That's crazy!"

"I know, but there's the answer. Next question?"

"Why didn't you trust us with this? Why didn't you tell us about resurrecting Kikyo and Kagome before?" InuYasha sounded slightly hurt with this, and Kagome couldn't help but pat his arm sympathetically.

"We just wanted it to be a nice surprise for you all," Miroku answered easily.

"And it was!" Sango burst in, grinning at them all. "Let's celebrate with some champagne and roast chicken!" Dinner passed by in a festive mood, and not even Sesshomaru complained about the food.

**That evening, with InuYasha**

11:00pm…InuYasha couldn't sleep. Getting quietly out of bed, he dressed and wandered onto the terrace. Turning around, he gazed at Kagome sleeping peacefully, and began to think about the day's events.

Sure, Miroku and Koga had done a good job reviving Kagome and Kikyo, but did he really love Kagome? If that stinking piece of metal had done the job, did that mean that he really did care for that wench? InuYasha thought of the times they had argued together. They had seldom agreed on one subject-before he had felt that hole in his heart because there was no one to argue with. Sesshomaru was just a sissy.

"Why are you up, InuYasha? You should be in bed," a sleepy voice yawned. Whipping around, InuYasha watched as Kagome made her way towards him.

"Can't sleep," he mumbled. "Why are you up? You were sleeping only a few minutes ago."

"I heard you tossing and turning," Kagome grinned the acrobat turn red in the face. "I say, InuYasha, you're getting a bit fat. Was that why the floor was shuddering?"

"Shut up, wench," any sentimental feelings for the woman in front of him were gone now. "At least I'm not the one being pampered like a princess. Why, you're just like that idiot in the Princess and the Pea fairytale!"

"Tell me that story; I'm not the one who remembers fairytales. Was it romantic?" Kagome teased, pulling a face. Her expression suddenly changed to a solemn one. "I actually decided to join you because I wanted to sort some things out between the two of us. In private." InuYasha gulped; this was the part he had looked forward to the least.

"First of all…was that metal writing really yours?" Kagome asked quietly. "It seems strange…that it got to me, of all people. And, you know, it almost convinced me that I wanted to go with you to Hawaii." Kagome was glad for the darkness; InuYasha would've seen her blush.

"Well…I guess so," InuYasha answered. "The way that thing floated out the window, anybody could have caught it."

"Yeah, it's really light, isn't it?" Kagome laughed, and then went on. "I wonder where that metal came from?"

"I have no idea, it just appeared from nowhere," InuYasha replied.

"And from this evening…do you really love me?" Kagome asked, fearing the answer. Somehow she couldn't help staring at the acrobat's thoughtful look. He looked so good like that, with his mouth slightly open and his hair blowing with the wind.

Why did she have to ask now? InuYasha fought a fierce battle in his mind. She had saved his life, and he had done nothing about it! But she was a woman who was extremely disagreeable and mean and…fun-loving and cute. Where'd that come from? InuYasha mentally beat his head before stealing a quick, side-long glance at her. Kagome's raven black hair blew about her face, emphasizing her creamy, pale skin and dark eyes. Her lips were curved in a slight smile, a smile which warmed his heart. He had failed to save Kagome's life, had felt guilty about it, never done anything to make her feel good, and yet she had never shunned him about it. Finally, his decision was made.

"Y-yes, but I can never be with you. I've never treated you right…" InuYasha couldn't believe that these things were pouring out of his mouth. But Kagome had made him feel everything: sadness, laughter, joy, happiness, anger. And yet he was giving her away. Why? _Because I'm irresponsible,_ the acrobat thought bitterly. _Because I'll never be able to repay her in her kindness._

"InuYasha," Kagome's firmness of voice put the demon out of his thoughts. "What do you mean? To be honest, it's been fun around you. There's never been a dull moment…and all those arguments? I hate to admit it, Sango was right. But looking back…all those quarrels seemed more like, like…lovers' quarrels. Petty, but fun. I love you too."

"That may seem enough, but what if Naraku comes back from the dead? What if you die again? Miroku isn't always going to be there for you," InuYasha said, exasperated. When would this wench understand?

"Then I'll be by your side, helping you and encouraging you," Kagome said strongly. "And that's that, InuYasha."

The two turned to face each other. The atmosphere suddenly seemed tense, and the two only had eyes for each other. Then, leaning forward, InuYasha closed the space between them and kissed Kagome.

"Okay lovebirds, time to break up, you've got company," a voice said, and giggling followed. Growling, InuYasha pulled away and glared at Sesshomaru and Kikyo, who were peering at them from the door at a safe distance (which was wise).

"K-Kikyo," Kagome stammered. "How long h-have you been there?"

"Since InuYasha said something about Naraku coming back from the dead, but he won't be," Kikyo smirked as Kagome blushed. "Not for a while, anyways."

"And what are you doing up, Fluffy?" InuYasha teased his brother, who was fuming. "If you were the one who heard us, why did you bother waking Kikyo up as well?"

"Oh, he didn't wake up, _darling._ But we _did_ have a little moment of our own…" Kikyo grinned slyly, as if hiding a secret, and placed her arms around Sesshomaru's waist. "Just that you weren't there to see." InuYasha flinched at the word 'darling', but grinned when his brother shifted uncomfortably at his new position.

"Well, if you had your moment, why don't you let InuYasha and I have ours?" Kagome smiled sweetly.

"Whatever you say," Kikyo replied. "Just make sure you've got everything you need; we're leaving tomorrow, you must remember."

"Yup," Kagome said quickly before shooing the intruders out. Turning back to face InuYasha, she inquired cheekily, "Now, where were we?"

"I think I know just exactly where," InuYasha grinned, and kissed Kagome passionately. When they pulled away, Kagome said, "I'm glad I came with you to Hawaii now. I don't regret a moment of it."

"I know, I'm just that good," InuYasha jogged away, laughing as Kagome followed him, shaking her head and muttering to herself, "I always knew that that man was trouble."

**End**

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A/N: And that concludes the end of a fanfic…thanks for reading! Please review! 


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